McDonald’s Corporation announced that global comparable sales decreased 1.8% in January.
APMEA’s comparable sales decreased 12.6% reflecting broad-based consumer perception issues in Japan, along with the lingering impact of the supplier issue and a shift in timing of Chinese New Year in China and other markets. Brand recovery continues to be a top priority throughout the segment, with emphasis on rebuilding customer trust by strengthening quality and affordability perceptions, according to the company.
Europe’s comparable sales increased 0.5% in January as positive performance in the U.K. and Germany was largely offset by negative results in France and Russia.
“While market dynamics remain challenging in the near term, McDonald’s Europe is focused on driving sales and guest traffic by strengthening local value platforms, highlighting the quality of core and premium products and aggressively pursuing growth opportunities, particularly at breakfast,” said company reps.
In January, U.S. comparable sales increased 0.4% as positive breakfast daypart performance was largely offset by the impact of aggressive competitive activity. McDonald’s U.S. is focused on delivering a simplified national menu alongside greater choice tailored to local consumer preferences – enabled by the segment’s transition to a new organizational structure.
Systemwide sales for the month decreased 7.9%, or were relatively flat in constant currencies.