Yum Brands Inc.'s fourth-quarter profit slipped 4.7%, but the
parent company of KFC, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut reported a slight
rise in revenue.
Yum shares rose 3.5% to $68.50 after hours as adjusted earnings
topped Wall Street's expectations and it reiterated its
outlook.
Chief Executive David C. Novak affirmed the company's goal of
attaining at least 20% earnings per-share growth in 2014, saying
the company is confident in its ability to "re-establish our track
record of double-digit EPS growth."
The restaurant company has been trying to recover from
food-safety concerns in China--the company's biggest
market--related to KFC chicken suppliers more than a year ago. In
November, Yum began an advertising and social-media campaign to
assure people that its food is safe, and late last year promised
major new initiatives to improve its KFC brand in China during
2014.
Earlier this month, Yum said same-store sales in China fell 4%
for the fourth quarter.
Meanwhile on Monday, Yum said U.S. same-store sales fell 2% for
the most recent period.
For the fourth-quarter, Yum reported a profit of $321 million,
or 70 cents a share, down from $337 million, or 72 a share, a year
earlier. Excluding special items such as a tax benefit, pension
settlements and other items, adjusted earnings rose to 86 cents a
share from 83 cents a share.
Revenue edged up 0.6% to $4.18 billion.
Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters were expecting per-share
earnings of 80 cents on revenue of $4.26 billion.
Yum's worldwide restaurant margin declined to 14.2% from 14.4%,
with the biggest decline coming from Yum Restaurants International
division.
Through Monday's close, the stock has edged up 0.4% in the last
12 months.
Write to Anna Prior at anna.prior@wsj.com
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