Massive dividends from KFC and Pizza Hut have enabled their parent company, Yum! Brands, to more than triple its profit last year. The European division of the group reported a pre-tax profit of $1.2bn (£892.7m) for 2024, a significant increase from the $317.1m (£235.8m) it posted for 2023, as reported by City AM. Yum! Restaurant Holdings, the holding company for the wider group's investments, does not generate a turnover. In newly filed accounts with Companies House, Yum! Brands attributed its substantial profit primarily to a partial write back of its previous impairment loss in respect of Yum! Restaurants Europe. It also stated that its profit was bolstered by dividends from Yum! Restaurants Europe and Pizza Hut Europe. Yum! Restaurants Europe issued a dividend of $176m for the year after posting a pre-tax profit of $122.3m. Despite its pre-tax profit being cut from $12.2m to $5.4m, Pizza Hut Europe paid out $40m. In 2023, as part of a reorganisation within the wider group, Yum! Brands acquired KFC Holdings BV from another group firm. Yum! Restaurant Holdings itself issued a dividend of $226m to its US parent company, an increase from $208m. The wider group encompasses KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell and The Habit Burger Grill. These brands are operated by a separate company in China. Yum!, which has previously owned Long John Silver's and A&W Restaurants, was established after being spun off from PepsiCo in 1997.\n\nFollowing a report by City AM in May, KFC has announced plans to create over 7,000 jobs in the UK and Ireland within the next five years, with an additional 500 restaurants slated to open by 2035. The £1.5bn investment will see £466m allocated towards the establishment of new sites, focusing on flagship locations and drive-thrus in 'key locations' such as Ireland and North West England. A portion of this sum will also be utilised to refurbish more than 200 existing KFC outlets, representing 20 per cent of the brand's portfolio. KFC revealed that its job creation strategy for the next five years involves an investment of £583m. Furthermore, the brand intends to invest £404m to 'strengthen KFC's long-standing relationships with its suppliers and help businesses across the UK&I continue to grow'.\n\nIn related news, City AM reported in May that the company behind Pizza Hut's UK restaurants, Heart With Smart (HWS), had debts exceeding £50m before being rescued. Saved in January by an entity controlled by investment firm Directional Capital, the deal preserved all but one Pizza Hut location. The new owner was previously the brand's main partner in Denmark and Sweden, while HWS served as Pizza Hut's dine-in franchise partner in the UK. The pre-pack administration, overseen by Interpath Advisory, concluded a two-month process to secure new investors for the company. This rescue operation safeguarded over 3,000 jobs nationwide. Before its rescue, HWS was owned by lender Price and the company's executives following a management buyout valued at £100m in 2018. Previously, the Pizza Hut franchise was under the ownership of private equity firm Rutland Partners. Although HWS licensed the Pizza Hut name from parent company Yum!, the American food behemoth that also oversees KFC, it had no involvement with its delivery outlets.

Huge dividends from KFC and Pizza Hut help owner more than triple its profit

Yum! Brands, the parent company of KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, and The Habit Burger Grill, reported a significant increase in pre-tax profit to $1.2 billion in 2024, more than tripling the $317.1 million recorded in 2023. This growth was primarily driven by a partial write-back of an impairment loss in Yum! Restaurants Europe and substantial dividends received from its European subsidiaries, including $176 million from Yum! Restaurants Europe and $40 million from Pizza Hut Europe. Despite a decline in pre-tax profit for Pizza Hut Europe from $12.2 million to $5.4 million, it still paid out a dividend. Yum! Restaurant Holdings also issued a $226 million dividend to its US parent. In separate developments, KFC announced plans to create over 7,000 jobs in the UK and Ireland over the next five years, with £466 million invested in new sites and over 200 existing outlets to be refurbished. Additionally, the UK-based Pizza Hut operator Heart With Smart (HWS) was rescued in January after debts exceeded £50 million, with the new ownership controlled by Directional Capital, preserving over 3,000 jobs.