(Reuters) – KFC parent Yum Brands Inc’s quarterly same-store sales met estimates on Wednesday, as demand for its tacos, pizzas and fried chicken held steady with people stepping out more often.
Yum Brands brought back its Mexican pizza at Taco Bell, tied up with rapper Jack Harlow to launch a meal for a limited period at KFC and offered several discounts and promotional deals during the reported quarter to attract customers and fend off competition.
The company also said it was in advanced stages of transferring ownership of its KFC business in Russia to a local operator who would rebrand the restaurants.
Net income fell to $224 million, or 77 cents per share, for the quarter, from $391 million, or $1.29 per share, a year earlier.
Yum, which also owns the Pizza Hut and Taco Bell brands, said comparable sales rose 1% in the second quarter. Analysts had also estimated a near 1% increase, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.
(Reporting by Praveen Paramasivam in Bengaluru; Editing by Vinay Dwivedi)
