LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Yum Brands Inc. said Monday that November sales at restaurants in China rose on a half-price bucket promotion at KFC and gains at Pizza Hut locations.
Yum said that its China division recorded a 1 percent gain at restaurants open at least one year, including a rise of 7 percent at Pizza Hut. For the first 10 days of November, the metric surged 16 percent at KFCs while they offered the bucket deal, then fell 8 percent for the rest of the month. The fried-chicken chain won't repeat the promotion in December.
The sales measure is important in retailing because they exclude the effects of opening new locations or closing stores.
Yum, which holds its annual investor meeting Wednesday in New York, also repeated its forecast that 2013 earnings per share will decline by high single digits to low double digits compared with last year. It expects earnings per share, excluding special items, to grow at least 20 percent in 2014.
Shares of Yum, which also operates Taco Bell, rose 3 cents to close at $77.71. In after-hours trading, they fell $2.21, or 2.8 percent, to $75.50.