000834 McDonald's July Sales Rise 5 Percent

Chicago - McDonald's Corp. said that sales at all of its restaurants worldwide rose 5% to $3.63 billion in July, despite nearly flat sales in the United States.

Oak Brook, Illinois-based McDonald's does not report same-store sales, or sales at restaurants open at least a year, but Mark Kalinowski, an analyst at Salomon Smith Barney, said he estimated the company's July same-store sales in the U.S. were down by a range of 1% to 2%.

“We knew July was going to be tough,” Kalinowski said. “In July of last year, they (featured) two of the top 10 best selling Happy Meals of all time, with Tarzan promoted in the first part of July 1999 and Inspector Gadget promoted in the latter part of the month.”

He said sales in Japan were weaker than expected but sales in Germany and the United Kingdom were stronger than expected.

Kalinowski also said he expects improved performance in August and September, in part because of easier year-over-year comparisons.

Shares of McDonald's slipped 11/16 to close at 32-11/16 on the New York Stock Exchange, amid a decline in the Standard & Poor's restaurant index and a decline in the broader market.

On a constant-currency basis, systemwide sales in July rose 7% worldwide, the company said. Systemwide sales include sales from company-owned and franchised restaurants.

Sales in the U.S. were $1.72 billion, little changed from a year ago. Sales in Europe rose 6% to $874.7 million, Asia/Pacific rose 7% to $626.5 million, and Latin America rose 5% to $169.6 million.

For the first seven months of 2000, systemwide sales rose 5% worldwide to $23.38 billion, or 7% on a constant-currency basis, McDonald's said.

U.S. sales rose 2% to $11.41 billion, Europe was up 1% to $5.51 billion, Asia/Pacific was up 14% to $4.11 billion, and Latin America was up 8% to $1.03 billion.

RETURN TO HOME PAGE

E-mail: sflanagan@sprintmail.com