McDonald's shares up in pre-market after earnings beat

McDonald's Corporation published its third quarter results before the opening bell on Friday, beating estimates despite falling short of its profit from the same period last year.

The fast food chain had net income for the period to September of $1.28bn, or $1.50 a share. In the corresponding quarter last year, the company had a profit of $1.31bn, or $1.40 per share.

It said that comparable store sales at locations opened for at least one year rose 3.5%, easily beating the forecast for 1.5% growth.

Revenue reached a total of $6.42bn for Q3, again down from last year's quarter but still exceeding estimates of $6.28bn.

McDonald's has said that an ongoing dispute in the South China Sea has caused negative sales growth in China.

Shares in the corporation were up 3.5% in pre-market trading in New York on Friday.