KFC China boosts Yum Brands' established restaurants sales

(Reuters) - Yum Brands Inc , which is spinning off its China business, reported worldwide system sales rose in the fourth quarter, helped by strong sales in China. Yum Brands said worldwide system sales jumped 6 percent in the quarter. Sales at established restaurants in China rose 2 percent, with KFC China's same-restaurant sales increasing 6 percent. Analysts on average were expecting Yum's sales at established restaurants in China to increase 1.9 percent, according to research firm Consensus Metrix. Yum had said in October it plans to spin off its dominant China business, which has been besieged by food scandals and marketing missteps, amid pressure from an activist shareholder who recently joined its board of directors. "We are on track to complete the spin-off of our China Division," Chief Executive Greg Creed said. The company reported a net income of $275 million, or 63 cents per share, in the latest quarter, compared with a loss of $86 million, or 20 cents per share, a year earlier. Excluding items, Yum earned 68 per share, beating analysts' estimates of 66 cents, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. Total revenue fell 1.2 percent to $3.95 billion, missing analysts' expectations of $4.02 billion. (This version of the story corrects throughout to clarify Yum's worldwide system sales, not global sales at established restaurants, rose 6 percent and removes comparison with analysts' estimates. Also corrects paragraph 3 to say sales at established China restaurants rose 2 percent, not 7 percent) (Reporting by Subrat Patnaik in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D'Souza)