McDonald’s has unveiled a slump in its second-quarter profits, due in part to the the consequences of BSE and foot-and-mouth.
For the three months to June, net earnings dropped 16% to hit $440.9m (£310.6m), while sales were flat at $10.24bn (£7.21bn). The fast food giant said that recent sales improvements in the poorly-performing European markets may signal that the worst of the food scares were over.
Chairman and chief executive Jack Greenberg said that the past six months had been tough, adding that the group was considering shutting 250 underperforming restaurants as a consequence.
Greenberg added: “While these results are below trend line, we are encouraged by improved performance in Europe, where we saw sequential improvement in comparable sales throughout the quarter.”
Most of the 250 restaurants being assessed for closure are based in emerging markets rather than in well-established locations. McDonald’s has more than 29,000 restaurants in over 120 countries, of which about 1,100 are in the UK.
The group also reported interim results today: for the first six months of 2001, net income was $819.2m (£677.1m), down 16% on last year’s figure.Sales showed a modest increase, from $19.74bn (£13.91bn) a year ago to $19.89bn (£14.01bn).
EGi News 25/07/01
