YUM CHINA (09987) Announces Q3 Results: Net Profit US$311 Million, Up 10% Year-on-Year

YUM CHINA (09987) announced its financial results for the third quarter of 2026. System sales increased 3% year-on-year, excluding the impact of foreign currency translation. Total revenue increased 8% year-on-year to US$3.5 billion, or increased 2% excluding the impact of foreign currency translation. Operating profit increased 13% year-on-year to US$451 million. Core operating profit increased 6% year-on-year. Net profit was US$311 million, up 10% year-on-year; diluted earnings per common share were US$0.91. Ms. Joey Wat, CEO of YUM CHINA, said: "Despite a market environment full of changes, we achieved year-on-year growth in system sales, operating profit and operating margin for the tenth consecutive quarter. Notably, excluding the impact of mark-to-market equity investments and foreign currency translation, our diluted earnings per share achieved double-digit growth year-to-date this year and in each of the past three years. These results demonstrate the resilience of our business model, solid execution and our commitment to creating sustainable returns for shareholders. Due to the high base formed by delivery platform subsidies in the same period last year and unfavorable weather in August, same-store sales faced certain pressure. However, we successfully captured incremental demand brought by a broader range of consumption occasions, such as small-ticket orders and single-person dining, and achieved same-store transaction volume growth for the fifteenth consecutive quarter. To capture the significant opportunities in the Chinese market, we accelerated the opening of company-owned and franchised stores, fully leveraging the advantages of our flexible store formats and menus, and steadily advancing toward our goal of exceeding 20,500 stores within the year." Ms. Wat continued: "We continue to build our brands, attracting more customers into our stores through more attractive dine-in exclusive offers and experiences, as well as more convenient takeaway services. Dine-in and takeaway performance improved sequentially, reversing the previous trend. At the same time, our shoulder-to-shoulder model targeting new consumption occasions and driving incremental sales and profit growth maintained strong momentum and reached key milestones: KCOFFEE surpassed 4,000 stores, KPRO exceeded 700 stores, and the number of stores covered by the Pizza Hut Burger module surpassed 300. We are also continuing to promote our drive-thru service to drive takeaway business, which has now covered more than 9,000 KFC stores. In terms of our core menu, we continue to innovate around core flagship products to increase repurchase and attract new customers. These growth drivers further strengthen our confidence in achieving sustainable growth. Looking ahead, we will continue to be committed to achieving the three-year growth targets set out at our Investor Day."