Yum! Brands Profit Tops View

(RTTNews) - Restaurant operator Yum! Brands Inc. (YUM), Wednesday reported an increase in profit for the second quarter that trumped Wall Street estimates by a penny, however, revenues fell short of expectations.

Louisville, Kentucky-based Yum! Brands reported second-quarter profit of $339 million or $0.81 per share, up from $235 million or $0.53 per share last year.

Adjusted earnings rose to $0.75 per share from $0.69 per share last year. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected earnings of $0.74 per share. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Yum Brands, the parent company of Taco Bell, KFC and Pizza Hut, said revenues dropped 3 percent to $3.01 billion from $3.11 billion last year. Analysts had a consensus revenue estimate of $3.09 billion.

Yum Brands, which is spinning off its China business, said worldwide system sales grew 3 percent.

China system sales increased 3 percent, reflecting 6 percent unit growth and even same-store sales growth. The company said it is on track to finalize China business separation with targeted completion date around October 31, 2016.

CEO Greg Creed said, "Given our strong first-half results and current trends in China, I'm pleased to raise our full-year core operating profit growth forecast to at least 14% from 12% previously. I'm particularly pleased with the continued sales momentum at KFC China, which delivered better-than-expected same-store sales growth of 3%."

YUM closed Wednesday's trading at $85.74, down $0.03 or 0.03% on the NYSE. The stock, however, gained $3.26 or 3.80% in the after-hours trade.