Yum! Brands announced that its board authorized repurchases of up to $4.2B in additional shares of common stock and declared a quarterly dividend of 46c per share of common stock. The additional share repurchases are part of Yum!’s previously announced commitment to returning $6.2B of capital to shareholders prior to the planned separation of its China business, which the company said is on track to be completed by the end of 2016.

The capital will be returned in the form of share repurchases, a special dividend or a combination thereof, it added. The $4.2B in additional share repurchases of outstanding common stock is authorized through December 31, 2016 and supersedes all previous unutilized authorizations.

The quarterly dividend is in addition to the targeted $6.2B in return of capital and will be distributed August 5, to shareholders of record at the close of business on July 15.

Greg Creed, CEO of Yum!, said:

“Today’s announcement marks another step towards our goal of delivering meaningful cash returns and demonstrates the commitment of our Board and management team to creating shareholder value. Our capital return plans reflect our continued confidence in our long-term growth prospects as we move towards the separation of our China business, which will result in two distinct and attractive investment opportunities for all of our shareholders.”

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