Yum Brands Inc

After a year of disappointing results in its U.S. division, Yum Brands Inc. is planning to copy one of its biggest rivals in the fast-food industry. At a meeting with investors and analysts, Yum Chief Executive David Novak said the chain would introduce new products, including beverages and breakfast meals, expand its value menus and offer healthier options at its main U.S. chains, KFC, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut. Novak said the U.S.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has enlisted the help of Paul McCartney in its campaign against Kentucky Fried Chicken. An open letter from McCartney to David Novak, chairman of KFC's Louisville-based parent company, Yum! Brands Inc., appeared in Thursday's edition of the Courier-Journal. McCartney, a vegetarian, says in the ad that Novak should improve the treatment of 750 million chickens raised annually in "factory farms" and killed in "frightening ways" for KFC.

The parent of KFC, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, Long John Silver's and A&W said Wednesday that it would add product calorie information to menu boards in its company-owned restaurants nationwide. "We believe this is the right leadership role . . . to be providing more information so consumers can make better-informed purchase decisions about the food they eat," Yum Brands Inc. spokesman Jonathan Blum said.

After helping you put it on, now they want to help you take it off. Yum Brands Inc. -- which owns the Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, KFC, Long John Silver's and A&W chains -- is offering free, four-week memberships at Bally Total Fitness Holding Corp. clubs in January to people bent on indulging without bulging. The timing of the promotion coincides with the ritual of making a New Year's resolution to lose weight.

louisville, ky. -- Fast-food giant Yum Brands Inc. said Monday that its third-quarter profit rose 17% on the strength of surging sales in its international and China divisions that offset sluggishness in the United States, led by slumping Taco Bell. The operator of KFC, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut reported 28% profit growth in its China division and 21% growth in its international division for the three months ended Sept. 8. Yum's U.S. operation had a scant 1% profit growth for the period.

Fast-food giant Yum Brands Inc. said Wednesday that its fiscal second-quarter profit rose 12%, beating Wall Street projections, on the strength of sizzling international sales that offset an essentially flat U.S. performance. The owner of KFC, Pizza Hut and Irvine-based Taco Bell reported double-digit operating profit growth in its China and international divisions. Based on its strong overseas performance, Yum raised its full-year forecast for growth in earnings per share to 12% from 11%.

Yum Brands Inc. on Wednesday reported better-than-expected earnings in its fiscal second quarter and raised its profit outlook for the year based on sales growth at its Taco Bell and KFC chains and a lower tax rate. Net income for the period ended June 11 rose to $187 million, or 62 cents a share, from $178 million, or 58 cents, a year ago. Revenue rose 3.7% to $2.15 billion.

Yum Brands Inc. wants to more than double the number of Long John Silver's seafood restaurants in the U.S., as part of an effort to expand the chain's national presence. It's planning what it calls a Fish First initiative -- a build-out of stores in 33 markets to leverage the Long John Silver's edge in the fast-fish category.

Taco Bell felt the Chihuahua's bite Wednesday. A federal jury in Michigan ordered the Irvine-based fast-food chain to pay $30 million to two men who said the company stole their talking Chihuahua character, which ended up captivating consumers in a wildly popular three-year ad campaign. The verdict against Taco Bell, a division of Yum Brands Inc., is the latest chapter in a lawsuit first filed in 1998 by Joseph Shields and Thomas Rinks.

Fast-food company Yum Brands Inc. said Wednesday that it would eliminate several hundred nonrestaurant jobs and shift as many as a couple hundred more as part of a restructuring of its U.S. business. The restructuring is part of Yum's strategy to sell more company-owned stores to franchisees, said Jonathan Blum, a spokesman for the Louisville-based operator of KFC, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut. "We're restructuring the U.S.