OAK BROOK Ill. McDonald’s Corp. posted a 6.5-percent year-to-year global comparable sales increase for July, with its two international regions beating domestic same-store sales by several percentage points.
Same-store sales for restaurants open more than 13 months jumped 9.9 percent in the Asia/Pacific, Middle East and Africa region, 7.7 percent in Europe and 4.3 percent in the United States.
The company credited the strength of breakfast sales, new menu items, late-night hours, perceived value and new marketing programs for the U.S. sales increase. Internationally, a combination of these factors boosted sales the most in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Japan, China and Australia, the company said.
John Glass, a securities analyst with Boston-based CIBC World Markets, cautioned in a research note that U.S. same-store sales might not improve during the second half of the year because of a weakening consumer environment.
The world’s largest restaurant chain, which operates or franchises more than 30,000 namesake restaurants worldwide, also pointed to a systemwide sales increase of 11.7 percent for the month, or 7.8 percent in constant currencies.