Yum China Holdings (YUMC) will suspend its quarterly dividend for the next two quarters because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The fastfood chain last raised its quarterly dividend by twenty percent to of $0.12 per share in the fourth quarter of 2018.

In its press release reporting first quarter 2020 results Yum China also announces the dividend suspension. Yum China states that due to the unprecedented effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and associated economic uncertainty, the company will temporarily suspend its share repurchases and, for the next two quarters, cash dividends on the company's common stock.

Yum China Holdings, Inc. is a licensee of Yum! Brands in mainland China. It has exclusive rights in mainland China to KFC, China's leading quick-service restaurant brand, Pizza Hut, the leading casual dining restaurant brand in China, and Taco Bell, which opened its first restaurant in China at the end of 2016. Yum China also owns the Little Sheep and East Dawning concepts outright. Yum China became a public company on October 17, 2016 when it was spun off from YUM! Brands.