(New York) Fast-food chain McDonald’s posted higher second-quarter results as it continued to benefit from higher menu prices, it said in a statement Thursday.
From April to the end of June, same-store sales, the industry benchmark that excludes currency fluctuations and only includes stores open for at least 13 months, rose 11.7% .
In the United States, its biggest market, they rose 10.3%, boosted by rising prices, but also by good footfall in its restaurants, the company says. The latter also cites the effect of its marketing campaigns, as well as a surge in online sales.
“Customers seem to have accepted the price increases without difficulty,” Neil Saunders of analyst firm GlobalData said in a Thursday note, “as the number of covers and transactions also increased.”
The analyst notes that as a result of inflation, some consumers are visiting fast food chains more frequently, seen as cheap ways to feed their families.
“It shows that the ‘you get what you pay for’ message continues to work, even despite menu price hikes,” he says.
Revenues were also sustained internationally, particularly in the United Kingdom, Germany and China. In this country, turnover had been penalized last year by the strict confinements imposed by the government in the face of the resurgence of COVID-19.
In total, in the second quarter, the turnover of the multinational increased by 14% to 6.5 billion dollars.
For the second half of the year, McDonald’s said on a conference call Thursday that it expects growth to be more subdued, especially as inflation eases.
“Inflation obviously remains high, but we are seeing a decline, including internationally,” said Ian Borden, group chief financial officer, who said he expects McDonald’s menu price levels to decrease in parallel.
In the second quarter, McDonald’s net profit rose sharply to $2.31 billion (94%). Last year, it was penalized by a charge of 1.2 billion dollars over this period, linked to the sale of its restaurants in Russia.
Excluding exceptional items, earnings per share, which refers to Wall Street, reached $3.17 (24%), beating market expectations.
