McDonald's Corp has said that its global sales fell by approximately 30% during the first two months of the current quarter due to the COVID-19 pandemic even as it signaled a recovery in demand as it starts to reopen restaurants around the world.
The fast-food chain said that demand improved significantly from April to May as many of its restaurants began serving diners, especially in the United States. While overall same-store sales fell 39% in April, they declined 21% in May.
Globally, McDonald's current-quarter comparable sales were mainly hurt by the closure of all of its restaurants in France, Spain, the United Kingdom and Italy in April, the company said.
In Ireland, the UK and some other European countries, McDonald's began reopening restaurants in May after they were completely shut for several weeks.
Current-quarter comparable sales in the two months that ended on May 31 fell 12% in the United States, the burger chain said. However, the decline was more pronounced in April with a 19% fall, while in May they fell only 5%.
Steps To Accelerate Recovery
The company now plans to boost advertising spending by $200 million as a part of its recovery plan to ride out the crisis. The investment will be recorded in the second quarter.
"The steps we are taking in response to the pandemic and to accelerate recovery...will position us well for the next phase of this crisis," CEO Chris Kempczinski said in a statement.
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