This article only represents the author's own views.
It may not sound sexy to your average Joe diner, but there was one clear superstar in the latest earnings report from restaurant operator Yum China Holdings Inc. (YUMC.US; 9987.HK): the company’s margins.
Specifically, it was the company’s eye-popping restaurant margin that reached a four-year high that was the pride and joy of top managers of the operator of KFC and Pizza Hut restaurants in China in the company’s third-quarter results released earlier this week. The margin – which came in at 18.8% for the quarter, versus 12.2% a year earlier – was all the more impressive against the backdrop of a difficult operating environment in China lately due to the country’s strict Covid-control measures.