PETA Protesting KFC

PETA has been protesting Kentucky Fried Chicken ( KFC) for close to 7 years. In PETA'S own words-- "PETA has been pressuring fast-food chain KFC to stop the worst abuses of chickens, like scalding birds to death, slitting their throats while they're still conscious, and drugging and breeding them to grow so large that they cripple beneath their own weight." While the propandga about KFC is very well done, how does all this protesting show in the bottom line of KFC. How much has PETA affected the business and profits of KFC after 7 years?

The answer might surprise you. KFC's business has never been better. Profits and sales are way up and in fact much better then the company predicted. PETA'S 7 years of protesting appears to have no effect what-so-ever on their business.

Yum Brands' profit jumps 18%, beats forecasts

"LOUISVILLE (AP) — Chain restaurant operator Yum Brands (YUM) said Tuesday that its fiscal third-quarter profit climbed 18%, thanks in part to robust business in China.

The company that owns Taco Bell, KFC and Pizza Hut earned $334 million, or 69 cents a share, for the period that ended Sept. 5. That compares with a profit of $282 million, or 58 cents a share, during the same period last year.

Yum, which operates nearly 3,300 restaurants in mainland China, said sales in the country rose 10%. That excludes a 1-percentage-point benefit of foreign currency conversions.

Excluding one-time items, the company's quarterly profit amounted to 70 cents a share.

Revenue for the quarter fell 2% to $2.78 billion, down from $2.84 billion last year.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expected Yum to earn 58 cents a share, excluding one-time items, on revenue of $2.79 billion.

Officials at the Louisville-based company said they were boosting their full-year profit forecast, thanks to the stronger-than-expected performance in China. The company now expects to earn $2.14 a share for the year. That's up from its previous forecast of $2.10 a share.

Yum operates more than 36,000 restaurants in 110 countries.

Its shares climbed 39 cents to $35.25 in after-hours trading Tuesday after closing at $34.86 during regular trading."

http://www.usatoday.com/money/companies/earnings/2009-10-06-yum-brands_N.htm?csp=34

.