LOUISVILLE, Ky. Yum! Brands Inc. said it has promoted Sam Su to the posts of chairman and chief executive of its China division.
Su, who most recently served as president of the division, will retain the post of vice chairman of Yum's board.
In addition, the Louisville, Ky.-based restaurant company named Mark Chu president and chief operating officer of the China division. Chu previously served as chief development officer. He reports to Su.
Su and Chu have oversight of the division, which operates some 3,544 restaurants in 650 cities of mainland China. They include 2,950 KFC outlets, 467 Pizza Hut casual-dining restaurants and 102 Pizza Hut Home Service units. The division also operates East Dawning, a quick-service concept serving Chinese food. Yum also acquired a stake in Little Sheep, a "hot pot" style restaurant.
David Novak, Yum's chairman and chief executive, called Su "a world-class pioneer achieving breakthrough results for Yum Brands in China."
"[Su] He has a solid track record of delivering outstanding performance in our China division, which has grown operating profit from $20 million in 1998 to $600 million in 2009," Novak said.
Novak said Chu also had been instrumental in growing the company's restaurant base in China, "last year adding a record 509 new units in mainland China."
Chu will oversee all of the brand teams for the China division as well as the restaurant excellence and franchise development functions and the development and construction teams, Novak said.
Yum, which reported revenue of nearly $11 billion in 2009, operates such brands as KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, Long John Silver's and A&W Restaurants. It has about 37,000 units in 110 countries and territories.
Contact Paul Frumkin at [email protected].