Profits at McDonald’s Irish franchise operator jumped 17 per cent last year as it reported a more than fivefold increase in the value of its Irish investments under construction.
New accounts for McDonald’s Restaurants of Ireland, the burger chain’s main Irish entity, also reveal the company declined to pay a dividend to its UK parent despite climbing profits.
McDonald’s had 95 franchised restaurants in the Republic last year, according to the accounts. The company does not directly operate any outlets here since it franchised out its last remaining owner-operated restaurant at Dublin Airport in 2022.
The Irish entity reported that it had almost €23.2 million worth of assets under construction in the Republic at the end of last year, up from €4.3 million in 2023.
The more than 400 per cent uplift comes after McDonald’s announced plans in August 2024 to invest €1.2 billion and open more than 200 new restaurants in the Republic and the UK over the next four years.
At the time, the New York-listed group declined to specify its plans for the Republic, insisting only that the new restaurants would be tailored to meet “the needs of the community”.
“The plans will also see a renewed focus on opening high street restaurants, demonstrating an ongoing commitment to supporting successful high streets across the country as town and city centres continue to evolve and respond to a variety of challenges,” the company said at the time.
The latest filings also show that, having paid a dividend of €51 million in 2023 and €25 million the year before that, the Irish business did not make any dividend payment to its immediate parent company, a UK-registered entity, last year despite rising profits.
McDonald’s Restaurants of Ireland reported a 17 per cent jump in before-tax profits to €42.4 million last year even as revenues fell 1 per cent to €84.4 million.
In a note attached to the accounts, the directors of the Irish company said administrative expenses were €8.5 million lower due to site closure costs and technology costs incurred in 2023.
The Irish business has shareholder funds in excess of €114 million.
Last month, the burger group’s ultimate parent in the US posted its biggest drop in US sales since the height of the Covid-19 pandemic in the three months to the end of March.
McDonald’s chief executive Chris Kempczinski said at the time that US consumers were “grappling with uncertainty” in the early part of 2025, adding that “geopolitical tensions added to the uncertainty and dampened consumer sentiment more than we expected”.
