(Reuters) – KFC parent Yum Brands Inc (YUM.N) reported fourth-quarter earnings that topped Wall Street’s view after accelerating sales and operating profit at established restaurants in China helped ease worries that growth in its top market was slowing.
The shares in the fast-food chain, which are up more than 25 percent from a year ago and trading around all-time highs, rose 3 percent to $65.10 in extended trading after Yum also reported better-than-expected restaurant sales growth in up-and-coming international markets.
“They demonstrated once again that they’re one of the best consumer plays on emerging markets,” said Tucker Brown, research principal at Sustainable Growth Advisors, which holds Yum in its SGA Global Growth Fund.
Fourth-quarter sales at established restaurants in China grew 21 percent from the year earlier and operating profit was up 15 percent, helped by recent price hikes that should help sustain high-quality growth, Brown said.
During the third quarter, Yum’s China same-restaurant sales rose 19 percent and operating profit was 7 percent.
Based in Louisville, Kentucky, the company has almost 4,500 restaurants, mostly KFC
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