Yum China plans to invest up to US$525 million opening between 800 and 850 new stores in the current financial year. 

Most of the new stores will be KFC outlets, and of its new cafe chain Coffii & Joy. 

The protections were included in the company’s second-quarter results released overnight, which showed total system sales up 10 per cent year on year to US$2.12 billion, with KFC leading the way at 12 per cent. Sales at Pizza Hut rose by 4 per cent. 

While sales were up, much of the growth was driven by network expansion. Same-store sales grew 4 per cent, with a 5-per-cent increase at KFC and a 1-per-cent increase at Pizza Hut.

Restaurant margin slipped from 15.1 per cent to 14.7 per cent, however operating profit rose 6 per cent from $193 million to $204 million. 

Net Income increased 24 per cent from $143 million to $178 million, primarily due to the increased operating profit and a gain from the company’s equity investment in Meituan Dianping.

During the quarter, Yum China opened 178 new restaurants taking its store count to 8751 across more than 1300 cities.

“We continued to capitalise on market opportunities across China with aggressive, KFC-led store expansion,” said Yum China CFO Jacky Lo. “With a strong cash payback period for new KFC stores and many untapped opportunities, we intend to continue to rapidly expand our store footprint in the second half of the year. 

“Looking forward, we expect overall sales growth to moderate as KFC begins to lap several key sales drivers, including successful value campaigns that we initiated in the second half of last year. However, we remain confident that our strong foundation and commitment to innovation throughout our business will power continued growth for Yum China. We will continue to create new and exciting menu items, and leverage our leadership in digital, data and delivery to meet the evolving needs of our consumers.”