McDonald's fourth quarter numbers beat expectations

Fourth quarter results released by McDonald’s surpassed analysts’ expectations both in terms of earnings and revenue as the launch of all-day breakfasts and unseasonably mild weather provided a boost.

The company reported a profit for the period of $1.21bn or $1.31 a share, up from $1.1bn the year before and beating analyst’s expectations for $1.23.

Meanwhile, revenue slipped 3.5% to $6.34bn, which was also better than consensus estimates for revenue of $6.23bn.

McDonald’s said sales at US restaurants were up 5.7% in the fourth quarter, while global same-stores sales were 5% higher than the previous year.

President and chief executive officer Steve Easterbook said: “We took bold, urgent action in 2015 to reset the business and position McDonald's to deliver sustained profitable growth.

"We ended the year with momentum, including positive comparable sales across all segments for both the quarter and the year - a testament to the swift changes we made and the early impact of our turnaround efforts.”

Shares were up 3.1% to $118.40 in pre-market trading.