During the third quarter, we delivered 5% same-store sales growth or 3% same-store sales growth on a two-year basis.
Despite a challenging operating environment due to the ongoing COVID pandemic, I'm extremely proud that we opened 760 net new units; a Q3 record, with broad-based strength across our portfolio.
China continues to be a leader in development, we opened 379 net new units across the rest of our portfolio, roughly equivalent to our Q3 2019 global net new units, including China.
third quarter system sales grew 8%, led by same-store sales growth of 5%.
On a two-year basis, same-store sales grew 3%, which includes the impact of around 500 stores or 1% temporarily closed due to COVID as of the end of Q3.
As we previously shared, looking across the more than 150 countries in which we operate, our recovery will neither be consistent from country-to-country nor linear within a country, reinforcing the competitive advantages of our diversified portfolio and our ability to serve customers through multiple on- and off-premise channels.
We posted over $5 billion in global digital sales with a near 40% digital mix during Q3.
We continued to expand delivery capabilities across the globe, setting a record this quarter with over 41,000 stores offering delivery to our customers.
Starting with the KFC division, which accounts for 52% of our operating profit, Q3 system sales grew 11%, driven by 6% same-store sales growth and 7% unit growth.
On a two-year basis, Q3 same-store sales were up 1%, which included the impact of 1% of the stores being temporarily closed due to COVID.
At KFC International, same-store sales grew 6% during the quarter.
Same-store sales declined 1% on a two-year basis.
Next, at KFC U.S., same-store sales grew 4% during the quarter, while same-store sales increased 13% on a two-year basis.
Now on to the Pizza Hut Division, which accounts for 17% of our operating profit.
Q3 system sales grew 4%, driven by 1% unit growth and 4% same-store sales growth.
For the Division, two-year same-store sales grew 1% during the quarter, which included the impact of 1% of stores being temporarily closed as of the end of Q3 2021.
Pizza Hut International same-store sales grew 6% during the quarter.
On a two-year basis same-store sales declined 4%.
While our Pizza Hut International business continues to be pressured, given our substantial dine-in index, the sustained strength in our off-premise business as reflected by 21% same-store sales growth on a two-year basis bodes well for the future of the brand and continues to fuel franchisee interest in investing in assets focused on serving the off-premise occasions.
At Pizza Hut U.S., we continued to see positive momentum with 2% same-store sales growth.
On a two-year basis, same-store sales grew 8% and the off-premise channel grew 17%.
Moving on to Taco Bell, which accounts for 31% of our operating profit, third quarter system sales grew 8%, driven by 3% unit growth and 5% same-store sales growth.
Two-year same-store sales growth was 8% for the quarter.
And finally, at the Habit Burger Grill, we saw system sales grow 19% during the quarter, driven by 11% same-store sales growth and 7% unit growth.
on a two-year basis, same-store sales grew 7%, which included the impact of about 1% of stores being temporarily closed as of the end of Q3.
With their combined experience of over 40 years with Yum!
We are advancing our plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions across our global system and supply chain by nearly half by 2030 while we work to implement, learn from, and scale pilots for reusable, recyclable and compostable packaging in the front of our restaurants to meet our 2025 public commitment.
Our results year-to-date, through Q3, highlighted by 15% system sales growth translating into strong core operating profit growth of 26% demonstrate the resilience and strength of our economic model.
The continued momentum reflected in our results reaffirms our confidence in delivering, on an annual basis, the long-term growth algorithm we reinstated on our last call, specifically 2% to 3% same-store sales growth, plus 4% to 5% net new unit growth, translating to mid-to-high single-digit system sales growth and high-single-digit operating profit growth.
system sales grew 8%, driven by 5% same-store sales growth or 3% on a two-year basis, which includes the impact of about 1% of stores being temporarily closed as of the end of Q3.
We delivered 4% unit growth year-over-year, which included a record of 760 net new units this quarter.
Core operating profit increased 3% for the quarter, in line with our internal expectations, when accounting for one-time items that impacted comparability.
The largest of these items was the lap of last year's bad debt recoveries, which accounted for a 5 point headwind to core operating profit growth.
EPS, excluding special items, was $1.22, representing a 21% increase compared to ex-special earnings per share of $1.01 in the third quarter last year.
Reflected in our ex-special earnings per share this quarter, is an investment gain on our approximate 5% investment in Devyani International Limited, an entity that operates KFC and Pizza Hut franchise units in India.
Our minority stake in Devyani was acquired in lieu of cash proceeds upon the refranchising of approximately 60 KFCs in India during 2019 and 2020.
This resulted in $52 million of pre-tax investment gains on our approximate 5% stake, which added $0.16 to EPS, but did not impact our core operating profit.
During Q3, we had bad debt expense of $3 million.
As a reminder, we had large quarterly swings in bad debt last year due to COVID and were lapping $21 million in bad debt recoveries in the third quarter of last year, resulting in a year-over-year headwind of 5 points, or $24 million to core operating profit growth this quarter.
We expect core operating profit growth to be negatively impacted again in Q4 as we lapped bad debt recoveries of $8 million in the fourth quarter last year.
Our general and administrative expenses on an ex-special basis for the quarter were $249 million.
On a full year basis this year, we now estimate consolidated G&A will be approximately $1.05 billion, an increase of about $60 million above our incoming expectations for the year, driven entirely by our above-target incentive compensation based on our strong business performance.
We expect our G&A to system sales ratio to move back to 1.7% next year on a full year basis.
Thus far, the Dragontail solution has been deployed in 13 markets and in over 1,700 stores across the Pizza Hut system.
Moving on to our Bold Restaurant Development growth driver, I'm thrilled to discuss how we delivered another record development quarter with 760 net new units, including meaningful contributions across multiple geographies at our KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell global brands.
Additionally, over the past year, Pizza Hut International has driven a significant inflection in their unit growth, going from negative net new units in 2020 to opening nearly 200 net new units during the third quarter.
As an example, we now have 23 Go Mobile locations at Taco Bell U.S. These technology-forward restaurants, which include dual drive-thru's with a dedicated mobile pickup lane, mobile pickup shelves and a faster Bellhop experience, among other things, have been a big hit, and we have more in our development pipeline.
In August, we completed our third whole business securitization issuance at Taco Bell in the past five years, issuing $2.25 billion of new Securitization Notes.
The weighted average yield of the new notes was approximately 2.24% and the proceeds were used to opportunistically repay $1.3 billion of existing higher coupon Taco Bell Securitization Notes and to support our share buyback program.
We still expect our 2021 interest expense to be approximately $500 million, in line with 2020.
We ended the quarter with cash and cash equivalents of $1 billion, excluding restricted cash.
Due to our continued recovery in EBITDA, our consolidated net leverage continues to be temporarily below our target of approximately 5 times.
With respect to our share buyback program, during the quarter, we repurchased 2.6 million shares at an average share price of $127 per share, totaling approximately $330 million.
Year-to-date, we've repurchased $860 million of shares at an average price of $117.
Capital expenditures, net of refranchising proceeds, during the quarter were $49 million.
We now expect net capital expenditures of approximately $175 million for the full year, reflecting roughly $75 million in refranchising proceeds and $250 million of gross capex.
Overall, I'm pleased with our performance this quarter, driven by impressive unit growth and sustained digital sales.

Summary:
During the third quarter, we delivered 5% same-store sales growth or 3% same-store sales growth on a two-year basis.
third quarter system sales grew 8%, led by same-store sales growth of 5%.
We posted over $5 billion in global digital sales with a near 40% digital mix during Q3.
On a two-year basis, same-store sales grew 8% and the off-premise channel grew 17%.
Moving on to Taco Bell, which accounts for 31% of our operating profit, third quarter system sales grew 8%, driven by 3% unit growth and 5% same-store sales growth.
Two-year same-store sales growth was 8% for the quarter.
The continued momentum reflected in our results reaffirms our confidence in delivering, on an annual basis, the long-term growth algorithm we reinstated on our last call, specifically 2% to 3% same-store sales growth, plus 4% to 5% net new unit growth, translating to mid-to-high single-digit system sales growth and high-single-digit operating profit growth.
system sales grew 8%, driven by 5% same-store sales growth or 3% on a two-year basis, which includes the impact of about 1% of stores being temporarily closed as of the end of Q3.
The largest of these items was the lap of last year's bad debt recoveries, which accounted for a 5 point headwind to core operating profit growth.
EPS, excluding special items, was $1.22, representing a 21% increase compared to ex-special earnings per share of $1.01 in the third quarter last year.
Reflected in our ex-special earnings per share this quarter, is an investment gain on our approximate 5% investment in Devyani International Limited, an entity that operates KFC and Pizza Hut franchise units in India.
This resulted in $52 million of pre-tax investment gains on our approximate 5% stake, which added $0.16 to EPS, but did not impact our core operating profit.
As a reminder, we had large quarterly swings in bad debt last year due to COVID and were lapping $21 million in bad debt recoveries in the third quarter of last year, resulting in a year-over-year headwind of 5 points, or $24 million to core operating profit growth this quarter.
We expect core operating profit growth to be negatively impacted again in Q4 as we lapped bad debt recoveries of $8 million in the fourth quarter last year.
Due to our continued recovery in EBITDA, our consolidated net leverage continues to be temporarily below our target of approximately 5 times.
Overall, I'm pleased with our performance this quarter, driven by impressive unit growth and sustained digital sales.