McDonald's reports stronger-than-expected December sales

PanARMENIAN.Net - McDonald's Corp reported stronger-than-expected December sales, but its shares fell on investor concerns that quarterly profit may have beat expectations only because of income that was not related to its operations, Reuters reported.

Chief Financial Officer Pete Bensen said investors remain cautious about consumer spending. He added that as a percentage of sales, margins declined 30 basis points to 18.7 percent during the fourth quarter as higher costs for food and other items offset sales strength.

He also said that ongoing austerity measures in Europe have not hurt sales there and that "we're really seeing no change in customer behavior."

Shares of the world's biggest hamburger chain were down 1.4 percent to $99.48 in morning trading on Tuesday.

McDonald's reported fourth-quarter profit of $1.38 billion, or $1.33 per share, up from $1.24 billion, or $1.16 a share, a year earlier.

Edward Jones analyst Jack Russo said results from the latest quarter were helped by 3 cents per share of non-operating income. "So it really it appears they met consensus," he said.

Revenue rose 10 percent to $6.82 billion, edging above the average analyst estimate of $6.81 billion.

Sales at stores open at least a year rose 9.6 percent in December, with a 9.8 percent increase in the United States and a 10.8 percent rise in its top revenue market of Europe.