Yum China Revenue Gains 9% In Third Quarter As KFC Operator Bets On Economic Recovery

A cartoon figurine of Colonel Sanders stands outside a KFC restaurant opened in China in 2021. … [+] (Photo by Zhang Peng/LightRocket via Getty Images)

LightRocket via Getty Images

Revenue at Yum China, the operator of the KFC and Pizza Hut chains in mainland China, increased 9% from a year earlier in the third quarter to $2.91 billion, helped by the opening of a net 500 new stores in a bet on economic recovery from pandemic upheaval a year earlier.

Net income increased 18% to $244 million, primarily due to an increase in operating profit and higher interest income, Yum China said. The increase in new stores in the world’s second-largest economy brought its total store count to 14,102, as of September 30.

Beef burger and whole chicken categories combined to make up more than 6% of KFC’s sales mix, exceeding that of “Original Recipe Chicken,” and contributed to record third-quarter revenue, CEO Joey Wat noted in a statement. The China spinoff from U.S.-listed Yum has also attracted customers to KFCs over the years with local eats such as tea eggs, salted egg yolk rice rolls, sweet pumpkin congee with lotus seeds, and red bean drink with sweet fermented rice.

“The post-pandemic economic recovery is shaping up to be a ‘wave-like’ and ‘non-linear’ process,” CFO Andy Yeung said in a statement. “So, we will continue to stay agile and take actions to drive sales and cost-efficiency in these evolving market conditions. However, the overall trend towards recovery is evident this year, and many of our performance metrics are setting new records.”

Yum China CEO Joey Wat.

Yum China

The company is on track to meet an updated full-year target of 1,400 to 1,600 new stores, said Wat, a member of Forbes China’s “100 Top Businesswomen List” from 2019 to 2023. It aims to reach 20,000 stores by 2026.

Yum China’s U.S.-traded shares have gained 22% in the past year.

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