Yum China Holdings Inc, the spinoff of the US fast-food chain which runs household names including KFC and Pizza Hut, registered flat same-store sales in 2016, three months after its New York listing.

Reporting for the first time as a standalone company, Yum China said a 3 percent rise in sales at its KFC outlets was offset by a 7 percent drop at Pizza Hut.

But becoming a separate company has lent it extra momentum for expansion. The fourth quarter alone saw Yum China add 302 new restaurants, accounting for more than half of the 575 new outlets it built last year.