041118 New Menu Boosts McDonald's Japan

Tokyo, Japan - A new menu featuring bigger burgers has helped McDonald's Japan triple its profits in the nine months to the end of September.

Its profits were up 204% to 2.05bn yen ($19.29m) compared to the same period last year.

The fast-food chain was also less affected than some of its rivals by an import ban on US beef after the discovery of mad cow disease in the US.

McDonald's Japan, 50% owned by the US burger giant, uses Australian beef. The company, which generated sales of 230bn yen across its 3,760 restaurants across Japan, has recovered from a two-year slump in its business.

A restructuring has seen it close unprofitable stores and appoint a new chief executive, Eikoh Harada, the former chairman of Apple Japan.

A new menu featuring burgers of a similar size to those found in McDonald's restaurants in other countries boosted sales.

In February, McDonald's Japan posted a net loss of 7bn yen for 2003. Japan was the US' most lucrative beef export market until the $1bn a year trade was banned last December. It agreed to a partial easing of the ban in October.

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