Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE: YUM) today reported results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2022. Worldwide system sales excluding foreign currency translation grew 8%, with 6% unit growth and 3% same-store sales growth. First quarter GAAP EPS was $1.36, an increase of 27% year-over-year. First quarter EPS excluding Special Items was $1.05, a decrease of (1)% year-over-year.

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DAVID GIBBS COMMENTS

David Gibbs, CEO, said “Our system sales grew 8% despite the difficult operating environment, a testament to the demand for our iconic brands and the unmatched operating capabilities of our world-class franchise partners. We set a Q1 development record, opening nearly 1,000 gross units. Momentum in our digital sales continued in the first quarter as a result of both continued system sales growth and digital mix expansion, reaching a Q1 record of approximately $6 billion.”

FIRST-QUARTER HIGHLIGHTS

• Worldwide system sales grew 8%, excluding foreign currency translation, with KFC at 9%, Taco Bell at 8% and Pizza Hut at 3%.
• We added 997 gross units during the first quarter resulting in 628 net-new units and 6% unit growth year-over-year.
• Reported digital sales of approximately $6 billion, up 15% year-over-year with digital mix exceeding 40%.
• Repurchased 3.4 million shares totaling approximately $407 million at an average price per share of $121.
• Foreign currency translation unfavorably impacted divisional operating profit by $14 million.

KFC DIVISION

• KFC Division opened 587 gross new restaurants in 49 countries.
• KFC Division ex-China same-store sales grew 10%.
• Foreign currency translation unfavorably impacted operating profit by $12 million.
• Our profits in Russia declined versus the first quarter last year, negatively impacting KFC operating profit growth excluding foreign currency by 2 percentage points.

TACO BELL DIVISION

• Taco Bell Division opened 63 gross new restaurants in 13 countries.
• Taco Bell U.S. system sales grew 7% and Taco Bell International system sales grew 37%.
• Taco Bell U.S. same-store sales growth grew 5% and Taco Bell International same-store sales grew 12%.
• Company-owned restaurant margins were approximately 22%, consistent with Q1 2019 pre-COVID margins.

PIZZA HUT DIVISION

• Pizza Hut Division opened 334 gross new restaurants in 40 countries.
• Pizza Hut International ex-China same-store sales grew 10%.
• Foreign currency translation unfavorably impacted operating profit by $2 million.

HABIT BURGER GRILL DIVISION

• The Habit Burger Grill Division grew system sales 17% for the quarter.
• The Habit Burger Grill Division opened 13 gross new restaurants in the U.S. and Cambodia.
• The Habit Burger Grill Division same-store sales increased 3% for the quarter.

OTHER ITEMS

• On April 1, subsequent to the end of our first quarter, we issued $1.0 billion of 5.375% YUM Senior Unsecured Notes due in 2032. The proceeds from this transaction were used to repay $600 million of 7.75% YUM Senior Unsecured Notes due in 2025, including the applicable prepayment premium, and for general corporate purposes.
• Disclosures pertaining to outstanding debt in our Restricted Group capital structure will be provided at the time of the filing of the first-quarter Form 10-Q. 

CONFERENCE CALL

Yum! Brands, Inc. will host a conference call to review the company's financial performance and strategies at 8:15 a.m. Eastern Time May 4, 2022. The number is 844/200-6205 for U.S. callers, 833/950-0062 for Canada callers, and 929/526-1599 for international callers, conference ID 755300.

The call will be available for playback beginning at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time May 4, 2022 through May 11, 2022. To access the playback, dial 866/813-9403 in the U.S., 226/828-7578 in Canada, 0204/525-0658 for U.K. (local), and +44/204-525-0658 internationally, conference ID 936254.

The webcast and the playback can be accessed by visiting Yum! Brands' website, investors.yum.com/events-and-presentations and selecting “Q1 2022 Yum! Brands, Inc. Earnings Call.”

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ONLINE

Quarter end dates for each division, restaurant count details, definitions of terms and Restricted Group financial information are available at investors.yum.com. Reconciliation of non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP measures are included within this release.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This announcement may contain “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. We intend all forward-looking statements to be covered by the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements generally can be identified by the fact that they do not relate strictly to historical or current facts and by the use of forward-looking words such as “expect,” “expectation,” “believe,” “anticipate,” “may,” “could,” “intend,” “belief,” “plan,” “estimate,” “target,” “predict,” “likely,” “seek,” “project,” “model,” “ongoing,” “will,” “should,” “forecast,” “outlook” or similar terminology. These statements are based on and reflect our current expectations, estimates, assumptions and/or projections, our perception of historical trends and current conditions, as well as other factors that we believe are appropriate and reasonable under the circumstances. Forward-looking statements are neither predictions nor guarantees of future events, circumstances or performance and are inherently subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and assumptions that could cause our actual results to differ materially from those indicated by those statements. There can be no assurance that our expectations, estimates, assumptions and/or projections, including with respect to the future earnings and performance or capital structure of Yum! Brands, will prove to be correct or that any of our expectations, estimates or projections will be achieved.

Numerous factors could cause our actual results and events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by forward-looking statements, including, without limitation: the severity and duration of the COVID-19 pandemic, food safety and food borne-illness issues; health concerns arising from outbreaks of a significant health epidemic; the success of our franchisees and licensees; our significant exposure to the Chinese market; changes in economic and political conditions in countries and territories outside of the U.S. where we operate; the macroeconomic and regional instability caused by the Russia conflict in Ukraine; our ability to protect the integrity and security of personal information of our customers and employees; our ability to successfully implement technology initiatives; our increasing dependence on multiple digital commerce platforms; the impact of social media; our ability to secure and maintain distribution and adequate supply to our restaurants; the loss of key personnel, or labor shortages or difficulty finding and retaining qualified employees; the success of our development strategy in emerging markets; changes in commodity, labor and other operating costs; harm or dilution to our brands caused by franchisee and third party activity; pending or future litigation and legal claims or proceedings; changes in or noncompliance with government regulations, including labor standards and anti-bribery or anti-corruption laws; tax matters, including changes in tax laws or disagreements with taxing authorities; consumer preferences and perceptions of our brands; failure to protect our service marks or other intellectual property; changes in consumer discretionary spending and general economic conditions; competition within the retail food industry; not realizing the anticipated benefits from past or potential future acquisitions, investments or other strategic transactions, and risks relating to our significant amount of indebtedness. In addition, other risks and uncertainties not presently known to us or that we currently believe to be immaterial could affect the accuracy of any such forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements should be evaluated with the understanding of their inherent uncertainty.

The forward-looking statements included in this announcement are only made as of the date of this announcement and we disclaim any obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement to reflect subsequent events or circumstances. You should consult our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (including the information set forth under the captions “Risk Factors” and “Forward-Looking Statements” in our most recently filed Annual Report on Form 10-K and Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q) for additional detail about factors that could affect our financial and other results.

Yum! Brands, Inc., based in Louisville, Kentucky, has over 54,000 restaurants in more than 155 countries and territories primarily operating the company’s brands – KFC, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut – global leaders of the chicken, Mexican-style food, and pizza categories. The Company’s family of brands also includes The Habit Burger Grill, a fast-casual restaurant concept specializing in made-to-order chargrilled burgers, sandwiches and more. In 2021, Yum! Brands was named to the Dow Jones Sustainability Index North America and was ranked on Newsweek’s list of America’s Most Responsible Companies.

Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Measurements to GAAP Results

(amounts in millions, except per share amounts)

(unaudited)

In addition to the results provided in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles in the United States of America ("GAAP"), the Company provides the following non-GAAP measurements.

• Diluted Earnings Per Share ("EPS") excluding Special Items (as defined below);

• Effective Tax Rate excluding Special Items;

• Core Operating Profit. Core Operating Profit excludes Special Items and foreign currency translation (“F/X”) and we use Core Operating Profit for the purposes of evaluating performance internally;

• Company restaurant profit and Company restaurant margin as a percentage of sales (as defined below).

These non-GAAP measurements are not intended to replace the presentation of our financial results in accordance with GAAP. Rather, the Company believes that the presentation of these non-GAAP measurements provide additional information to investors to facilitate the comparison of past and present operations.

Special Items are not included in any of our Division segment results as the Company does not believe they are indicative of our ongoing operations due to their size and/or nature. Our chief operating decision maker does not consider the impact of Special Items when assessing segment performance. The Special Items are described in (a) - (d) in the accompanying notes.

Company restaurant profit is defined as Company sales less Company restaurant expenses, both of which appear on the face of our Condensed Consolidated Statements of Income. Company restaurant expenses include those expenses incurred directly by our Company-owned restaurants in generating Company sales, including cost of food and paper, cost of restaurant-level labor, rent, depreciation and amortization of restaurant-level assets and advertising expenses incurred by and on behalf of that Company restaurant. Company restaurant margin as a percentage of sales ("Company restaurant margin %") is defined as Company restaurant profit divided by Company sales. We use Company restaurant profit for the purposes of internally evaluating the performance of our Company-owned restaurants and we believe Company restaurant profit provides useful information to investors as to the profitability of our Company-owned restaurants. In calculating Company restaurant profit, the Company excludes revenues and expenses directly associated with our franchise operations as well as non-restaurant-level costs included in General and administrative expenses, some of which may support Company-owned restaurant operations. The Company also excludes restaurant-level asset impairment and closures expenses, which have historically not been significant, from the determination of Company restaurant profit as such expenses are not believed to be indicative of ongoing operations. Company restaurant profit and Company restaurant margin % as presented may not be comparable to other similarly titled measures of other companies in the industry.

Certain non-GAAP measurements are presented excluding the impact of F/X. These amounts are derived by translating current year results at prior year average exchange rates. We believe the elimination of the F/X impact provides better year-to-year comparability without the distortion of foreign currency fluctuations.