McDonald’s Corporation reported on Thursday that July sales were a little better than expected
This was partly due to the re-introduction of the popular McDonalds version of Monopoly.
Sales were helped further by their new premium wrap sandwiches, which gave them a small boost in the U.S. branches, although European outlets were not so successful.
Shareholders were banking on a sales increase of the their regular items, like Big Mac hamburgers, french fries and Happy Meals.
McDonald’s is battling for market share in the U.S.,and is facing stiff competition from other fast-food chains such as Burger King and Wendy’s.
These two are offering low-priced ‘value menus’ and flashy new limited-time selections.
McDonalds is the world’s biggest hamburger chain; it claims that global sales at restaurants open at least 13 months rose 0.7 percent last month,
Bringing the McDonalds Monopoly game forward from September helped same-restaurant sales in the United States to rise 1.6 percent, above the 0.3 percent gain analysts had anticipated.
Analyst Jack Russo said there is “a lot of work to do, especially in overseas markets,”
European same-restaurant sales fell 1.9 percent.The weakest performers in the region were Germany, France and southern Europe according to McDonald’s.
Which is bad news because European sales are higher than in the U.S. Usually McDonald’s top markets for sales,are France, Germany and the United Kingdom
In Asia/Pacific, the Middle East and Africa, same-restaurant sales also dropped 1.9 percent.
The company reported weakness in Japan, Australia and China, where the outbreak of bird flu has reduced demand.They also said that the changed in dates of of Ramadan between years also hurt sales.
Shares of McDonald’s were down 0.6 percent at $97.74 in morning trading on the New York Stock Exchange.
Doubtless the management wishes that the money traded in the McDonalds Monopoly board game could be transferred into real dollars!