McDonald’s benefits from a more expensive life for consumers. People who want to eat out are therefore more inclined to visit the American hamburger chain, according to the company’s quarterly figures. Worldwide sales increased by almost 13 percent in the first quarter.
This growth was not only visible in the home market of the United States, but also in other major markets such as France, Germany and the United Kingdom. In addition, profit rose by almost 63 percent to $ 1.8 billion.
More expensive burger
“Amid a challenging work environment, customer demand for the McDonald’s brand remains strong,” CEO Chris Kempczinski said in a statement accompanying the results. The chain itself also implemented price increases, so that people who came to eat a Big Mac with fries, for example, also quickly spent more.
McDonald’s has also had to deal with extra costs lately, for example for the purchase of ingredients. In an effort to reduce costs and work more efficiently, the chain announced a reorganization earlier this year. As a result, hundreds of workers are likely to be laid off in the United States. All details are not yet known, but McDonald’s wants to use the intervention to free up money for investments in further growth. Hundreds of thousands of people work for the company worldwide.
Performance Pepsi up
US soft drink and snack maker PepsiCo has raised its profit and sales forecast for this year, helped by strong results in the first quarter. The company was able to compensate for the rising costs with price increases. On average, products such as Pepsi, 7Up, Lay’s chips and Quaker granola became 16 percent more expensive in the past quarter.
“We do not expect commodity prices to fall for us, but the rate of inflation will decrease somewhat during the course of the year,” finance director Hugh Johnston told Reuters news agency.
