WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Fast-food chain Yum! Brands Inc. (YUM) said Tuesday that it has promoted Chief Financial Officer Rick Carucci to the post of president, taking over the role from Chief Executive Officer David Novak. He will be succeeded as chief financial officer by Patrick Grismer, currently the company's chief planning and control officer.
Carucci, aged 54, will report to Chairman and CEO Novak. Leaders of Taco Bell, KFC and Pizza Hut in the U.S., Yum! Restaurants International (YRI) and Corporate Finance will report to Carucci.
The CEOs of the China and India divisions as well as corporate functional leaders will continue to report to Novak.
Carucci is a 16 year veteran of the restaurant industry, including senior general management, financial and development roles for Yum! Restaurants International. He has served as Yum! Brands' CFO since 2005.
Prior to that, Carucci served as CFO and head of development of the company's International Division. He is widely credited for the company's financial and IT strategies, and for increasing its presence internationally, especially in emerging markets.
Grismer, aged 50, will report to Carucci. Yum! Brands said that all corporate finance functions and information technology will now report to Grismer.
Grismer is a ten-year veteran of Yum! Brands, with most immediate responsibility for corporate strategy, planning and control. Prior to that, he served in a series of domestic and international finance positions, including CFO of YRI, corporate vice president of strategy and investor relations, CFO of Pizza Hut UK, vice president of planning at YRI, and senior director of finance at Taco Bell.
Prior to joining Yum! Brands, Grismer spent ten years at Walt Disney Co. (DIS)in a series of finance executive positions. He also served as a senior consultant at Price Waterhouse.
In mid-April, Yum! Brands reported 73 percent growth in first-quarter profit, as its China market continued to post strong sales and U.S. same store sales returned to positive levels.
Net income for the first quarter grew to $458 million or $0.96 per share from $264 million or $0.56 per share in the same period last year. Revenues for the quarter grew 14 percent to $2.74 billion.
Yum! Brands has for the past few years worked to boost sales in China and India, as its restaurants in the U.S. were facing stiff competition from peers such as McDonald's, Burger King Holdings, Subway and Wendy's Co.
In Tuesday's regular session, YUM is trading at $74.30, up $1.57 or 2.16 percent on a volume of 957,637 shares.
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© 2012 AFX News
