One of the world’s leading fast food giants and the owner of Taco Bell, KFC and Pizza Hut, Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) released its quarterly results about two weeks ago in which it managed to beat the earnings estimates, but missed the revenue estimates.
But the company, particularly KFC, continues to face headwinds in China on the back of negative publicity related to the Avian flu and last year’s poultry supply incident. However, the company has been showing signs of improvements and could start hitting growth in same-store sales in China in the near future.
Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) has a total of 5,982 restaurants in China, of which 74% are KFC. In terms of revenue, China is the biggest market for Yum! Brands. This is also evident from the fact that in China, the company runs its restaurants itself, unlike in other parts of the world where franchisees form a crucial part of Yum!’s operations.
Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)’s total quarterly revenue dropped by 8% year-over-year to $2.9 billion, which missed analysts’ estimates by $30 million, while its net income dropped by 15% to $281 million. The adjusted EPS also dropped from $0.67 to $0.56, but was above Wall Street’s expectations of $0.54. The only positive number was free cash flow of $257 million, which represents nearly 18% of its sales.
In China, Yum! Brands’ growth was already under pressure due to the poultry scandal, but the outbreak of avian flu has multiplied its woes by scaring away those customers who were still coming to its restaurants. While the company’s same store sales at its Yum Restaurant International division and the U.S improved by 1%, they dropped by 20% in China led by a 26% drop in China KFC sales.
However, the drop in China appears to be slowing down from 29% in April, 19% in May to finally 10% in June.
More bad news
The company has once again attracted negative Chinese PR. The country’s state-owned CCTV has reported that ice being served at a Beijing KFC outlet had 13 times as much bacteria as toilet bowl water and was 20 times over the national limit. Its rival McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD) ice was also above the national limit but was not as bad as Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)
The report has been shared on Chinese social media sites several hundreds of thousands of times. However, I believe that the report is just a temporary setback since it is based on a single ice cube being served in just one of Yum Brands’ nearly 6,000 outlets. Furthermore, this news is actually minuscule compared to the massive food safety issues Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) has faced in China in the last 10 months.
Competitors
Meanwhile, McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD) has also released its quarterly results just a few days ago that were a disappointment, as its revenues and income trailed market’s expectations. Sales were $7.1 billion, which translated into an EPS of $1.38, below estimates of $1.40. Moreover, the company has also stated that the sluggish economic environment will continue to hurt McDonald’s throughout the current year.
The company’s current strategy is to lure customers with cheaper meals such as the Dollar Menu or the Combo meals as its global same store sales rose by just 1%. With increasing competition in the industry with Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)’ $1 menu at Taco Bell and Burger King Worldwide Inc (NYSE:BKW)’s smoothies and no significant increase in purchasing power, McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD) shares will remain under pressure throughout 2013.
