McDonalds said today US sales soared for the ninth straight month in December, but that fourth-quarter profit will be shaved by the costs of scaling back its non-hamburger chains.
US December sales growth, at 12.2 per cent for stores open more than a year, showed their fourth consecutive double-digit monthly increase, exceeding analysts' expectations for high single-digit percentage gains.
The sales increase, helped by the introduction of new products such as all-white-meat Chicken McNuggets, came despite the announcement late in the month of the first case of mad cow disease in the United States.
The largest fast-food company said it expects to report fourth-quarter net earnings of about 10 cents a share after charges of 25 cents a share.
The charges, which the company had forecast but not detailed, will go toward selling off McDonald's Columbus, Ohio-based Donatos Pizza chain, closing Donatos and Boston Market chicken restaurants outside the United States, exiting a joint venture and revitalising its Japanese market, among other items.