Yum cuts FY profit forecast as food scare hits sales

Yum Brands Inc, owner of the KFC and Taco Bell fast-food chains, reduced its forecast for profits this year as a food-supplier probe in July hurt sales in its China division.

Earnings per share, excluding special items, will rise 6 percent to 10 percent this year, the Louisville, Kentucky-based company said in a statement on Tuesday. That's down from a previous projection for growth of at least 20 percent.

Yum, which has more than 6,400 restaurants in China, has been under pressure after a second food-safety scare drove customers away from its KFC and Pizza Hut chains. KFC had previously been hit hard by a December 2013 report that some of its suppliers violated rules on drug use in chickens.