--FILE--pedoni a piedi passato a un fast food ristorante di KFC in città Huaibei, est cinese della provincia di Anhui, 20 settembre 2016. Gli investitori che sono stati looki
--FILE--Pedestrians walk past a fastfood restaurant of KFC in Huaibei city, east China's Anhui province, 20 September 2016. Investors who were looking forward to Yum Brands' October 31 spinoff of its China division were just thrown a splash of cold water ª one that came in the form of the company's third quarter earnings report. Though the company reported worldwide same store sales growth, its soon-to-be spun off China division proved to be enough of a drag on operations that Yum executives blamed its performance on an ongoing dispute over the South China Sea. Yum Brands ª which owns KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell ¨C reported Wednesday that it recorded $3.3 billion in third quarter fiscal 2016 revenue, a figure that dropped 3% year-over-year and fell shy of the $3.5 billion Wall Street consensus. Worldwide same store sales increased 1% during the quarter, with weakness in the China division (which posted a 1% decline in same-store sales during the quarter) offsetting KFC's 4% increase in same-store sales and Taco Bell's 3% gain. Some analysts were expecting Yum's China division to post 4% same-store sales growth. Yum CEO Greg Creed attributed the weak China results to an ongoing dispute over China's sovereignty claims in the South China Sea, and a United Nations tribunal's July ruling that these claims violate international law.
