OAK BROOK Ill. McDonald’s Corp. said its fourth-quarter, per-share earnings would exceed Wall Street expectations as strong global sales results at yearend were driven by breakfast sales and the Snack Wrap in the United States and the popular Monopoly game in Germany.
The company expects to earn 61 cents per share, excluding a 39-cent-per-share gain from its Chipotle spin off, which is a 29.8-percent increase from the year-earlier quarter and three cents above the average Wall Street estimate, according to Thomson Financial. Global same-store sales at all of McDonald’s more than 30,000 restaurants rose 7.2 percent in December, 6.3 percent for the fourth quarter and 5.7 percent for the year.
In the United States, same-store sales rose 6.9 percent, 5.9 percent and 5.2 percent for December, the fourth quarter and the full year, respectively. In Europe, same-store sales surged 8.2 percent in December, 7.3 percent for the quarter and 5.8 percent for the year. Europe’s annual result was the highest same-store sales gain in almost 15 years, McDonald’s said. In the Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Africa region same-store sales increased 4.8 percent, 4.6 percent and 5.5 percent for December, the fourth quarter and the full year, respectively.
For fiscal 2006, ended Dec. 31, McDonald’s global systemwide sales, in constant currencies, rose 6.8 percent from the year earlier, the company also reported.