Yum! will likely continue to growth its existing brands before considering any new acquisitions, though executives are looking at buying opportunities, said David Novak, chairman and chief executive officer, during the company's full-year earnings conference call. "We're obviously one of the few strategic buyers out there," he says. "I think we could run a lot more brands if wanted to."

During the company's Q4, which ended Dec. 31, US year-over-year same-store sales grew 3%, while they increased 2% worldwide. For the first month of the current year, Taco Bell has done particularly well, with an 11% year-on-year gain, followed by KFC's 8% boost. However, Pizza Hut has struggled, falling 4%.

Fourth-quarter US revenues were just over $1.8 billion, 4% above the same period last year. Domestically, executives plan to boost the number of multi-brand restaurants in the portfolio this year by 550, from the current total of just under 3,100.

Yum!'s sales in China, where executives expect much of the company's future growth, were hurt during the quarter by avian bird flu concerns, prompting operating profits last year to fall last year to $51 million, to $64 million in 2004. But company officials stressed that the region is experiencing a turnaround.

The company also struggled in South Korea and the UK. "We haven't done a great job in marketing, and we haven't done a great job in operations," Novak says of those areas, adding: "We can certainly manage it in the [next] year."