CNN Money/Dow Jones: Yum! Brands, parent company of Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, KFC, Long John Silver's and A&W, hopes record international store expansion and a revitalized KFC brand in the United States can help overcome tighter consumer spending worldwide and unfavorable exchange rates in 2009.
The company outlined a number of initiatives to help reach an earnings growth of at least 10 percent next year, including:
- Adding lasagna to its Pizza Hut Tuscani pasta line
- Promoting a national value menu at KFC
- Adding 500 KFC stores in China
- Trimming $60 million in operating costs by restructuring its U.S. business with sales of its company-owned stores to franchisees
- Introducing healthier grilled chicken at KFC in the second quarter in an effort to boost U.S. sales
- Refranchising 500 locations toward its overall goal of reducing U.S. company ownership to below 10 percent in 2010 from 18 percent currently
In a related story, CNN Money also reported Yum! Brands Inc. said it no longer plans to buy back any of its shares in 2009 as the company looks to preserve cash. Last week, Yum said that it expected another year of double-digit profit growth in 2009.
The (Louisville, Ky.) Courier-Journal reported that Yum! Brands expects to save about $70 million next year due to its recent corporate restructuring that included a round of layoffs at the company's headquarters in Louisville, Ky.
The company also plans to spend $30 million to install new ovens ahead of the planned national launch of Kentucky Grilled Chicken in the second quarter.
