Yum Brands jump as China growth boosts profit

Yum Brands, whose fast-food trio includes the Taco Bell, KFC and Pizza Hut chains, saw its stock rocket more than 3% in after-hours trading, as the company reported better-than-expected profit for its first quarter on rebounding sales at KFC in China.

Yum stock jumped $2.64 to $80.12 in after-hours trading after the report was released. Most of the good news came from China, where the company said same-store sales rose a hefty 9% for the period.

"Yum Brands is clearly on its way to a strong bounce-back year," said CEO David C. Novak, in a statement. "We have significant building blocks in place in China and each of our divisions to drive sales and profit growth this year and beyond."

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Yum's China division -- which accounts for a big chunk of the company's revenue -- took a hit last year following an avian flu outbreak and other issues.

For the quarter, net income grew to $399 million, or 87 cents a share vs. $337 million, or 72 cents, one year earlier. That topped the 84 cents per share analysts expected.

"We expect to achieve earnings per share growth of at least 20% in 2014," said Novak, in a statement, "and look forward to re-establishing our track record of consistently delivering double-digit earnings per share growth in the years ahead."

In the U.S. Taco Bell's sales at existing U.S. stores fell 1%, but the company hopes those numbers will improve in the second quarter with its recent, high-profile breakfast roll-out.

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