McDonald's Reports A 1.2% Gain In April Sales, U.S. Flat

McDonald’s MCD on Thursday reported that global comparable stores increased 1.2 percent in April.

In the press release, McDonald’s President and CEO Don Thompson commented, “We are strengthening our business plans by emphasizing customer-driven strategies. We remain focused on delivering an outstanding restaurant experience by serving our customers their favorite McDonald's food and drinks and offering compelling value, choice and convenience to create easy, memorable experiences.”

Comparable sales in the United States were flat due to “challenging” industry dynamics. Sales are down 1.3 percent year-to-date, compared with 0.7 percent loss in the comparable period in 2013. In April, U.S. stores featured breakfast options accompanied with a McCafe coffee promotion and new premium sandwich, the Bacon Clubhouse.

Europe’s comparable sales were up 0.3 percent compared with a loss of 2.4 percent in
2013. The company noted that strong sales in the United Kingdom and France was offset by negative marks in Germany. The press release states, “Strong promotional performance, value menu enhancements and growth at breakfast contributed to the segment's results.”

Comparable sales in Asia/Pacific, Middle East and Africa (APMEA) were up 2.9 percent compared with a loss of 2.9 percent in the same period a year ago. McDonald’s reported that results in China were strong, and noted the comparison in 2013 was greatly impacted from the Avian influenza. Australia also saw strong results, although Japan experienced ongoing weakness.

The company’s systemwide sales for April grew 2.5 percent, or 3.7 percent in constant currencies.

On May 16, 2014, McDonald’s will participate in a Europe and APMEA Investor meeting at 10:00 a.m. CST. Investors and the general public can access the webcast live and the replay for a limited time at www.investor.mcdonalds.com.

McDonald’s Annual Shareholders’ Meeting will be webcast live on May 22 at 8:00 a.m. CST. Senior Executive Vice President and CFO, Pete Bensen, will participate in the Sanford Bernstein Strategic Decisions Conference at 9:00 a.m. EST on May 28. Access to both presentations can also be viewed on McDonald’s investor site.

Shares of McDonalds closed at $101.96 on Wednesday. In pre-market trading, the stock spiked higher to $102.25. Following the press release, shares dropped to $101.80 pre-market.