All-day breakfast boosts McDonald’s US sales

The all-day breakfast seems to be working for McDonald’s. Sales at the fast-food giant’s established US locations rose 5.4 per cent in the first quarter, the company announced on Friday. This is the third quarter in a row that the company has reported an increase in sales.

McDonald’s attributed the increase to the popularity of its all-day breakfast, introduced last October, and the McPick 2. Rolled out for a limited time this quarter, McPick 2 allowed customers to select two items from its McPick menu for $5.

Comparable sales for the company’s international segment increased 5.2 per cent for the quarter, led by strong performance in the UK, Australia and Canada.

“Some of the challenges we’ve had in the US have been somewhat self-inflicted. We moved away from the Dollar Menu and didn’t replace it with significant enough value in the eyes of consumers,” Steve Easterbrook, McDonald’s president and chief executive, said last July.

Global sales rose 6.2 per cent, which the company attributed to having an extra 24 hours to sell its burgers thanks to leap day. In the first quarter, McDonald’s net income was $1.1 billion.

Its earnings per share, at $1.23, came in 7 cents above analysts’ expectations, and its revenue, at $5.9 billion, also exceeded Wall Street projections.

The next step of McDonald’s turnaround plan includes a bigger and a small Big Mac.

– (Guardian service)