Yum! Brands Inc’s (NYSE:YUM) spinoff Yum China Holdings Inc (NYSE:YUMC) saw its shares rise in premarket trade after it outlined its first dividend and boosted its stock buyback programme.
The company, which was spun off from Yum! Brands a year ago, also announced that Joey Wat, the current president and chief operating officer, will succeed Mickey Pant as CEO in March 2018.
First dividend of 10 US cents per share
The operator of KFC and Pizza Hut restaurants in China said third quarter net income came in at US$211mln or 53 US cents a share, on sales of US$2.04bn, up from US$192mln on sales of US$1.88bn a year ago.
The market consensus was for earnings of 56 US cents a share on sales of US$1.98bn.
That was not all, the company also announced its first dividend of 10 US cents a share. It also boosted its stock-repurchase authorisation from US$300mln to US$550mln.
In premarket trade, its shares rose 1.93% at US$40.74.