McDonald's sales rise globally, but dip in the U.S.

Dec. 9 (UPI) -- McDonald's Corp., the world's largest restaurant chain, reported November sales that were lower than expected globally, with high competition among fast food chains.

Weak performance in the U.S. and Japan led the low sales figures. Same-store sales in the U.S. fell 0.8 percent, compared with the 0.3 percent increase analysts expected. This compares with a 2.5 percent rise a year earlier. Last year, 32 percent of McDonald's revenue was from U.S. sales.

Same-store sales in Asia, the Middle East and Africa fell 2.3 percent, led by a decline in Japanese sales.

Same-store sales globally rose 0.5 percent in November, partially padded by a rise in European sales of 1.9 percent.

This comes after McDonalds, Taco Bell and Burger King have been revamping their menus to draw in more diners. McDonald's has tried adding more value items to its menu, as well as more expensive options including its chicken wings. But some higher-priced items have been pulled off the menu after not selling well, like the recently removed $4 Angus burger. Shares of McDonald's dipped more than 1 percent in Monday morning trading in New York, as investors are not seeing explosive growth in McDonald's as they are in other restaurant chains like Chipotle, which McDonald's propelled before fulling divesting itself in 2006. McDonald's is to report fourth-quarter earnings on Jan. 23.

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