Alarming sales decline of the KFC after scandal

Alarming sales decline of the KFC after scandal

“OUR food is perfectly safe to eat.” From the company that once boasted that its fried chicken was “finger-lickin’ good”, this is hardly a bold sales pitch. But Yum! Brands, the owner of KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell, has good cause to sound defensive. A food-safety scandal in China, its most important market, refuses to blow over.

KFC sales in China fell by a staggering 41% in January. Overall, same-store sales for Yum! outlets in China fell by 6% in the fourth quarter of 2012, versus the same period a year ago; the comparable figure in 2011 was a 21% rise (see chart). 

Yum! will have to revise its global earnings target for 2013 “significantly”.

Resource: http://www.economist.com/news/business/21571467-yum-brands-stumbles-china-yucky-kentucky