Yum Brands Sags on 2010 Outlook

Shares of KFC and Pizza Hut proprietor Yum Brands (YUM) is down 63 cents cents, or 1.8%, at $34.71 this afternoon, after the fast food company announced profit for Q4 two cents better than expected and revenue a tad better than expected, but forecast EPS growth of “at least 10%” in 2010, which is merely in line with expectations and clearly not enough for some investors.

Q4 revenue fell 1% in the quarter thanks to foreign exchange moves, the company said, totaling $3.37 billion, slightly ahead of expectations for $3.34 billion, yielding profit per share of 50 cents, excluding some items, ahead of the average 48-cent estimate.

The U.S. restaurants were the weak spot, again, with 15% decline in revenue, most of that coming from the company’s owned restaurants, which performed worse than franchise sales. International sales were up 3% and total revenue in China was up 17% at $1.21 billion.