(Corrects net income figures, paragraph 3)

Yum Brands Inc , parent of the Taco Bell, Pizza Hut and KFC chains, posted a quarterly profit on Wednesday that topped analysts' expectations as global sales at established restaurants rose 1 percent, sending shares up 3 percent.

Louisville, Kentucky-based Yum gets more than half of its operating profit from China and other overseas businesses and investors expect most of Yum's future growth to come from those international markets.

First-quarter net income fell to $218 million, or 46 cents per share, compared with net income of $254 million, or 50 cents per share, a year earlier.

Profit excluding special items was 48 cents per share, topping analysts' average forecast of earnings of 40 cents, according to Reuters Estimates.

Total revenue fell to $2.2 billion from $2.4 billion.

Worldwide sales at restaurants open at least one year were up 1 percent. Same-store sales in mainland China rose 2 percent and other international markets gained 6 percent, offsetting a 2 percent decline in U.S. same-store sales.

Yum repeated its forecast calling for per-share earnings growth of at least 10 percent in 2009 and said it sees full-year earnings of $2.10 per share, excluding items.

Shares of Yum rose to $33.15 in extended trading from their close of $32.09 on the New York Stock Exchange.

(Reporting by Lisa Baertlein; Editing by Tim Dobbyn)

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