Yum! Brands Names New CEO of China Business

Yum! Brands, the parent of KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell, is naming a new CEO of its China division as it works to reverse a sales skid in a key market. The company said Tuesday that Micky Pant, 60, is now the CEO of its China division. He replaces longtime leader Sam Su, who is retiring. Pant has been the CEO of KFC since the beginning of 2014 and now takes over the business that Yum Brands describes as the single biggest contributor to its profits. Yum Brands also named new CEOs of its KFC and Pizza Hut businesses in China. (ABC News)

Yum! Brands’ stock fell 3.76% to $80.44 on heavy trading volume on Wednesday morning, after the Chinese currency was devalued on Tuesday. The yuan slid 3.5% in China and 4.8% in global markets over the last two days, Reuters reports. (The Street)

Looking at a more solid market, the Louisville, Kentucky-based company plans to add 400 KFC restaurants in Turkey over the next five years, said Sabir Sami, head of Turkey, Middle East, North Africa and Pakistan for Yum! Brands, at a news conference in Istanbul on Thursday. The company, which took over Turkey operations in 2013 from a local franchise group and currently owns 99 of the 100 existing KFC outlets in the country, will probably run half of the new restaurants while the remainder will be operated through franchise deals, Sami said. (BloombergBusiness)

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