McDonald’s sees signs of recovery in global sales

McDonald’s global sales began to gradually improve in May as it reached the 90% reopened store mark.

The fast food giant revealed yesterday that its like-for-like sales across the worldwide estate were down 30% in the current quarter - down 21% last month, and 39% in April.

This improvement can be seen as a direct result of the brand’s phased reopening strategy, which saw 75% of its stores reopen by the end of April, compared to 90% by the end of May.

Its pace of reopening differed considerably from country to country. In the UK, which didn’t start reopening stores until June, 30% of the estate still hasn’t reopened its doors, whilst most drive-thru and delivery stores in the US remained open throughout the pandemic.

With 38,000 locations worldwide, the company said its sales were primarily hit by estate-wide closures in the UK, France, Spain and Italy, compared to the US where like-for-like sales were down just 5% in May, 19% in April.

In its international markets – including the UK – like for like sales are down 53% in the current quarter, having fallen 68% in April and 41% in May.

The company has said that as of Monday (15 June), 95% of its restaurants are open globally, and it plans to invest $200m in marketing contributions in Q2 to accelerate its recovery.