McDonald’s Sees Lower Full-Year Earnings

McDonald’s Corp., the world’s largest restaurant company, said that the effect of weak foreign currencies against a strong U.S. dollar could dampen its 2000 earnings by as much as 7 cents a share, 2 cents more than previously expected. Analysts had forecast McDonald’s to earn $1.52 a share in the year, up from $1.39 in 1999, according to First Call/Thomson Financial. McDonald’s shares fell $1.81 to close at $27.19 on the New York Stock Exchange. McDonald’s also said total sales in August rose 5% to $3.6 billion, but analysts focused largely on sales at restaurants open at least one year, particularly those in Europe. “Overall, the [sales] numbers were weak and probably discounted in the stock,” said Timothy Ghriskey, head of value investing for Dreyfus Corp., which has McDonald’s in its core holdings. The fast-food chain does not disclose same-store sales, but Ghriskey said that same-store sales for the European market fell 1% below an expected 2% gain.