YUMC Yum China Holdings Inc

By Austen Hufford 

Yum Brands Inc. on Thursday reported rising revenue and same-store sales in its first earnings report after spinning off its China business.

In the recently completed period, overall same-store sales rose 1%. Consensus Metrix said analysts had expected 2.1% growth. Same-store sales at KFC rose 3%, Taco Bell reported a 3% increase and Pizza Hut reported a 2% decrease. Financial Chief David Gibbs said KFC and Taco Bell had relatively strong performance in the month of December, despite difficult U.S. industry conditions.

Shares, up 7.6% in the last three months, rose 1.4% in premarket trading.

Yum China began trading last fall on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol YUMC. Yum was the first major Western fast-food company in China, opening a KFC near Beijing's Tiananmen Square in 1987 and building the brand into the largest foreign-restaurant chain in the country.

In all for the period, Yum reported a profit of $267 million compared with $275 million a year earlier. Profit was hurt by higher interest expenses and an income tax provision.

On a per-share basis, earnings from continuing operations rose to 76 cents a share from 66 cents as the number of shares outstanding fell 15%.

Excluding special items, profit was 79 cents a share.

Revenue, which includes franchise and license fees, grew 2.4% to $2.02 billion.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters had projected 74 cents a share on $2.09 billion in revenue.

The company reaffirmed its long-term guidance.

Write to Austen Hufford at austen.hufford@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 09, 2017 08:28 ET (13:28 GMT)

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