McDonald’s Corp. reported its best quarterly performance this year as third quarter same-store sales rose 9.5% in the U.S. and 3.9% worldwide.
System-wide revenues rose 11%—calculated as 7% without currency fluctuations—for the quarter ended Sept. 30.
Nine-month same-store sales (through September) were up 4.3% for the U.S. and only 0.7% worldwide. Sales in Europe fell 2% for 2003 through September.
New stores—especially those opened in 2002—will add two to three percentage points to 2003 sales growth, McD projects. For 2004, new stores will add one more percentage point to sales growth. Oak Brook, IL-based McDonald’s expects to add 360 units in 2003, 260 of them traditional restaurants and 100 of them smaller satellite units.
“Our revitalization plan is beginning to yield results,” said Chairman-CEO Jim Cantalupo in a statement. “Our focused and disciplined approach is producing strong sales and profitability improvements in our U.S. business and improved trends in some international markets; still, there are many opportunities to improve our business.”
Cantalupo credits recipe improvements and menu additions such as premium salads and McGriddles breakfast sandwiches for increasing store traffic by 1 million new customer visits each day. He said McD’s first-ever global campaign, “i’m lovin’ it” (Xtra, Sept. 4), “is designed to reaffirm McDonald’s marketing leadership and help keep McDonald’s contemporary and relevant in the minds of our customers.”
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