Mad cows help depress profit at McDonald's
By Simon English in New York (Filed: 19/04/2002)


BIG Mac is under attack from lingering fears of diseased cows and troublesome results in Latin America.

McDonald's, the world's largest restaurant company, made a profit of $253m (£180m) in the first three months of 2002, down a third on a year ago.

Although sales in Europe improved as confidence in the beef supply grows, the notorious mad cow disease emerged in a few animals in Japan.

McDonald's shut 130 restaurants in Japan this year, a country that provides 5pc of its profits. Its attempt to reassure locals that it does not use Japanese beef failed to stop sales in the Asia-Pacific region falling 8pc on food safety concerns.

Jack Greenberg, chairman, said: "Performance was better than anticipated due primarily to strong sales in Europe during the last two weeks in March."

The company took a hit of almost $99m for goodwill write-downs and a $43m charge for the falling value of restaurants in Latin America.