Financial Statement Presentation

9 Months Ended

Sep. 03, 2011

Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]

Financial Statement Presentation

Financial Statement Presentation

We have prepared our accompanying unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements (“Financial Statements”) in accordance with the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) for interim financial information.  Accordingly, they do not include all of the information and footnotes required by Generally Accepted Accounting Principles in the United States (“GAAP”) for complete financial statements.  Therefore, we suggest that the accompanying Financial Statements be read in conjunction with the Consolidated Financial Statements and Notes thereto included in our annual report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 25, 2010 (“2010 Form 10-K”).  Except as disclosed herein, there has been no material change in the information disclosed in the Notes to our Consolidated Financial Statements included in the 2010 Form 10-K.

YUM! Brands, Inc. and Subsidiaries (collectively referred to as “YUM” or the “Company”) comprise the worldwide operations of KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, Long John Silver’s (“LJS”) and A&W All-American Food Restaurants (“A&W”) (collectively the “Concepts”).  References to YUM throughout these Notes to our Financial Statements are made using the first person notations of “we,” “us” or “our.”

YUM’s business consists of three reporting segments:  YUM Restaurants China (“China” or “China Division”), YUM Restaurants International (“YRI” or “International Division”) and United States.  The China Division includes mainland China and YRI includes the remainder of our international operations.

Our fiscal year ends on the last Saturday in December and, as a result, a 53rd week is added every five or six years.  The first three quarters of each fiscal year consist of 12 weeks and the fourth quarter consists of 16 weeks in fiscal years with 52 weeks and 17 weeks in fiscal years with 53 weeks.  The current fiscal year of 2011 will have a 53rd week.  Our subsidiaries operate on similar fiscal calendars except that certain international subsidiaries operate on a monthly calendar, with two months in the first quarter, three months in the second and third quarters and four months in the fourth quarter.  Our international subsidiaries that operate on a monthly calendar, including China, are not impacted by the addition of a 53rd week.  All of our international businesses except China close one period or one month earlier to facilitate consolidated reporting.

Our preparation of the accompanying Financial Statements in conformity with GAAP requires us to make estimates and assumptions that affect reported amounts of assets and liabilities, disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the Financial Statements, and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period.  Actual results could differ from these estimates.

In our opinion, the accompanying Financial Statements include all normal and recurring adjustments considered necessary to present fairly, when read in conjunction with our 2010 Form 10-K, our financial position as of September 3, 2011, and the results of our operations for the quarters and years to date ended September 3, 2011 and September 4, 2010 and cash flows for the years to date ended September 3, 2011 and September 4, 2010.  Our results of operations and cash flows for these interim periods are not necessarily indicative of the results to be expected for the full year.

Our significant interim accounting policies include the recognition of certain advertising and marketing costs, generally in proportion to revenue, and the recognition of income taxes using an estimated annual effective tax rate.