McDonald's serves up tasty quarterly earnings

McDonald's served up a fat set of first-quarter results, with revenues and earnings and results both beating forecasts.

The fast-food behemoth reported revenue of $5.9bn, down from $5.96bn last year but ahead of consensus estimates of $5.81bn. Revenues would have increased 3% in constant currencies.

This fed through to earnings per share of $1.23, which were up 22% from the $1.01 reported in the same period last year and surpassed Wall Street expectations of $1.16.

Sales at the Golden Arches chain benefited in the past two quarters by the launch of an all-day breakfast menu that forms part of management's turnaround plan.

President and chief executive officer Steve Easterbrook said the plan announced last year was "taking hold".

"The ongoing investments we're making in running great restaurants and delivering what matters most to our customers are beginning to yield sustained positive results. For the quarter, we generated higher sales, revenues and operating income in constant currencies across all business segments."

In the US, first-quarter like-for-like sales increased 5.4%, fueled by the All Day Breakfast and the introduction of McPick 2-for-$5 national promotion.

International LFL sales increased 5.2% for the quarter, led by strong performance in the UK, Australia and Canada reflecting what the company said was strong execution of core menu, compelling value and convenience strategies continued to resonate with consumers.

In the 'high growth' international segment, quarterly LFL sales increased 3.6%, led by China and positive performance across various other markets, including Russia.

In the 'foundational' markets unit, sales rose 11%, primarily due to a recovery in Japan.

McDonald's stock had fallen 2.1% to $125.86 on Thursday.