Yum’s China sales fall less than expected, shares rise

Yum Brands Inc, owner of KFC and Pizza Hut, said on Wednesday that sales at established restaurants in its biggest market China fell less than feared in the fourth quarter as it fights to recover from a food scandal involving a minor supplier, and its shares jumped 2.1 percent.

Same-restaurant sales in China, Yum’s number one market for revenue and profit, fell 16 percent for the quarter that ended on 27 December on continued fallout from allegations that a former supplier used expired meat.

But the decline was less severe than the 19.4 percent drop expected by analysts polled by Consensus Metrix, and shares in Yum rose USD1.51 to USD75.16 in extended trading.