Yum Brands same-store sales beat on KFC strength

[May 01, 2019]  (Reuters) - Yum Brands Inc beat analysts' estimates for quarterly sales at established outlets on Wednesday, boosted by strong growth at its KFC chain.

KFC's sales at established restaurants rose 5 percent, well above 2.74 percent estimated by Wall Street analysts, according to Refinitiv IBES estimates. The growth was also the strongest in at least three years.

"First-quarter results were a solid start to the year, reflecting particular strength at the KFC division and Taco Bell U.S.," Chief Executive Officer Greg Creed said in statement.

Yum has been looking to expand Taco Bell overseas, aiming to repeat the success of KFC.

Taco Bell's same-store sales rose 4 percent, but fell slightly short of the 4.47 percent estimated by analysts.

Yum's global comparable store sales rose 4 percent in the first quarter, beating analysts' estimate of a 2.66 percent increase.

Excluding one-time items, Yum earned 82 cents per share, 1 cent above the average estimate.

Yum's net income fell about 40 percent to $262 million in the three months ended March 31, partly due to its investments in food delivery service GrubHub Inc .

Total revenue fell 8.5 percent to $1.25 billion, in-line with analysts' estimates.

(Reporting by Nivedita Balu and Aishwarya Venugopal in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'Silva)

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