Yum profit beats even as bird flu batters China sales

(Reuters) - KFC parent Yum Brands Inc on Tuesday reported that quarterly profit fell less than Wall Street expected, despite a sharp drop in sales in its top market of China, and the company's shares jumped 6.5 percent.

Sales at established restaurants in China fell 20 percent during the first quarter and Yum warned that fears surrounding a bird flu outbreak there were continuing to depress sales already struggling to recover from a previous food safety scare.

The fast-food operator reaps more than half of its overall sales in China, where most of its nearly 5,300 restaurants are KFCs.

The drop in sales was a major contributor to the first quarter's profit decline.

Net income fell to $337 million, or 72 cents per share, from $458 million, or 96 cents per share, a year earlier.

Excluding items, first-quarter earnings were 70 cents per share, 10 cents better than the average of analysts estimates compiled by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Yum shares were up $4.18 at $68.33 in extended trading.

(Reporting by Lisa Baertlein in Los Angeles. Editing by Andre Grenon)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/yum-profit-beats-even-bird-flu-batters-china-215004553--finance.html

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