Yum China Holdings, Inc. (Yum China) announced the appointments of Joey Wat as President and Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Yum China, reporting to the Chief Executive Officer, Micky Pant.
The company also announced the appointment of Johnson Huang as General Manager of the Company’s KFC business.
Wat previously served as Chief Executive Officer of the Company’s KFC business. In her new role, Ms. Wat will expand her responsibility such that in addition to overseeing the KFC brand, she will also oversee the Company’s Pizza Hut Casual Dining and Pizza Hut Home Service brands.
Up to this date, Huang has been serving as Chief Information and Marketing Support Officer. In his new role, Huang will be the new leader for the KFC brand and report to Wat.
In Yum! Restaurants China since 2014
Joey Wat joined Yum! Restaurants China in September 2014 as President of KFC China and was promoted to Chief Executive Officer of KFC China in August 2015. She led the operating and marketing functions for the KFC division, had general management responsibility and was responsible for growing KFC within China.
Prior to Yum, she worked at McKinsey, and later headed Watsons, UK including the Superdrug and Savers retail chains. Born in Fujian, China, Ms. Wat attended the University of Hong Kong and earned an MBA from Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.
“I’m pleased to announce the appointment of Joey Wat as our President and Chief Operating Officer,” said Micky Pant, CEO of Yum China. “Joey is an extraordinarily talented executive with a strong track record of accomplishing excellent business results at our KFC brand. The Yum China board is confident that, with Joey’s strong leadership, the KFC brand will continue to expand in China and generate impactful same store sales growth and that the Pizza Hut business, in both Casual Dining and Delivery segments, will benefit from her strategic oversight.”
A digital tech expert
Johnson Huang joined Yum! Brands, Inc. in 2006 to lead the information technology department in China and was appointed Chief Information Officer in 2013. He started overseeing shared marketing services in 2014 and became Chief Information and Marketing Support Officer of Yum China in October 2016.
He has been the architect of Yum China’s digital strategy and information technology roadmap. Prior to Yum,
Huang held various business leadership and Information Technology positions with Cap Gemini Ernst & Young Group in the greater China region and Evergreen Group in the UK. He holds an MBA from University of Tennessee and a Bachelor Degree in Industrial Management from Taiwan University of Science and Technology.
“I am also pleased that Johnson Huang will become the General Manager for KFC in China. Johnson has held a variety of roles within Yum China over the past decade and has been instrumental in implementing our digital customer engagement strategy helping us to reach the new, younger generation of Chinese consumers.
With his deep knowledge of information technology, experience with the Yum China business and consumer insight, he brings a unique perspective to strengthen the iconic KFC brand,” continued Pant.
Not so new faces for the independent company, and still inherited results
Yum China ended 2017 with more than 420,000 employees in over 1,100 cities. A new generation of younger consumers who are digitally sophisticated and brand driven are fueling growth in consumption in China. The ongoing growth of the middle class and urban population in China is expected to create the world’s largest market for restaurant brands.
While prospects might be rosy the facts tell about a market share shrink. Same-store sales were flat in 2016, with an increase of 3% at KFC, offset by a decline of 7% at Pizza Hut Casual Dining.
Despite the stagnation in sales, Primavera Capital Group, a China-based global private equity firm, and Ant Financial Services Group, one of the world’s leading online and mobile financial services providers that operates the widely used Alipay mobile payments platform, invested a total of $460 million in Yum China, concurrent with the completion of Yum! China’s spinoff from Yum! Brands on 31st October 2016.
Yum China Holdings Inc., now is a licensee of Yum! Brands, Inc. in mainland China. It has exclusive rights in to operate KFC, Pizza Hut, and Taco Bell in the mentioned territory. Taco Bell opened its first restaurant in the Asian country at the end of 2016. Yum China also owns the Little Sheep and East Dawning concepts outright.
“This was a momentous year for Yum China. We successfully became an independent, publicly traded company while simultaneously improving our business performance and investing for future growth. At year end 2016 with over 7,500 restaurants nationwide, we extended our market-leading position in China,” said Micky Pant, CEO.
“For our shareholders, we exceeded our 2016 financial targets* in operating profit, restaurant margin and adjusted EBITDA. We continue to focus on our long-term growth formula: new unit development, same-store sales growth, and continued restaurant margin improvement. Right now, our top priority is consistently delivering positive same-store sales growth. During 2016, we continued to build a foundation for long-term growth with emphasis on product innovation, investments in refurbishing our restaurants, and focus on digital engagement with our customers.
“2016 was a ground breaking year for Yum China in Digital and Delivery. Our loyalty programs have over 80
million members between KFC and Pizza Hut (60 million increase for KFC and 20 million up for Pizza Hut) and are ranked #1 in the restaurant industry worldwide in terms of number of members. Total delivery sales reached approximately US$700 million, and in 2016, we were #1 among restaurant operators in terms of online sales in China. Cashless payment accounted for about 30% of our company sales (This means around $2Bn and mobile payments reached about a 17% of total sales in 2016).
“Yum China has a long and successful track record of doing business in China, and 2017 marks the 30th anniversary of the launch of KFC in China. While we have achieved a lot in the past three decades, our growth plans give us confidence that we are well-positioned to drive strong operating performance and generate high returns for our shareholders over the long run. We believe the majority of our restaurants in China are yet to be built.”
Yum China opened 575 new restaurants for the year and 302 for the fourth quarter, driven by development of the KFC brand. And Taco Bell inaugurated its first restaurtant in the country located in Shanghai. Delivery contributed with circa 10% of the total company sales in 2016.
Image over the headline.- KFC restaurant in China. © Yum China Holdings Inc
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