McDonald’s Corporation said its third-quarter profit will exceed Wall Street’s estimates following another month of strong sales for the world’s largest fast-food chain.
The company said its global sales from restaurants open more than a year rose 5.9 per cent in September, led by an impressive 12 per cent gain in its Asia/Pacific, Middle East and Africa division.
Same-store sales in its US outlets rose 3.5 per cent, increasing for a 54th consecutive month. The company cited its value menu, breakfast offerings and drinks as helping to boost sales. Same-store sales are an important gauge of performance in the restaurant industry.
McDonald’s said it expects to earn 83 cents per share in the quarter, including an after-tax gain of 6 cents per share from the sale of its Boston Market franchise. That is six cents per share better than the estimate of analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial.
The company reports full third-quarter results October 19. The latest results continue a hot streak for McDonald’s that began in 2003 and continues for a variety of reasons including promotions, discount menus and popular new products.
The company’s European restaurants performed well after lagging the US comeback in recent years. Same-store sales rose 5.7 per cent with France, the United Kingdom and Russia posting the strongest performances. Sales in Germany were down from the same month a year ago, when the company ran a coupon promotion.
McDonald’s said total system wide sales rose 11.5 per cent for the month and 11.8 per cent for the quarter.