McDonald's posts sizzling 80% profit rise in 2008

[RamboLiberal]

Source: Breitbart.com

US fast-food giant McDonald's said Monday its 2008 net profit soared 80 percent from a year, lifted by growing demand from consumers seeking low-cost meals in a deepening global recession.

Net profit for the full year totaled 4.3 billion dollars, compared with 2.3 billion in 2007, the Oak Brook, Illinois-based company said in a statement.

Excluding exceptional items, earnings per share were 3.76 dollars, widely exceeding consensus market forecasts of 3.63 dollars.

The robust annual results came despite a sharp 23 percent decline in fourth-quarter net profit to 985 million dollars, from 1.273 billion in the 2007 fourth quarter. Fourth-quarter earnings per share were 87 cents, above expectations of 83 cents.

"2008 was a strong year for McDonald's," chief executive Jim Skinner said in the statement.



Read more: http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=CNG.aec4920fe8094fdd0baaeab2ed126bf1.741&show_article=1

[truthisfreedom]

1. And 2009 will even be higher.

Maybe they should start offering avocado sandwiches or something else more nutritious. Or substitue carrot sticks for fries.

[Aviation Pro]

2. Cheap, corporate, non-nutritious food....

...is your best buy in a recession.

[Shiver]

3. I haven't eaten anything of theirs since one of their cheeseburgers

broke my tooth.

[bluestateguy]

4. How is Burger King doing?

Honestly, I have not heard.

My mother thinks McD's coffee is excellent and buys it all the time.

Myslef, I am a Big Mac fan, but I only treat myself to one about 4 times a year.

[HopeHoops]

5. Amazing how much money you can make selling meals that don't contain actual food.

[SurfingScientist]

6. Family-run taquerias next door...

... offer so much better fast food at really low prices - ask a bachelor. Unfortunately, they do not have the corporate media marketing machine that drives people to the deep-fried cardboard with sauce that the chains call 'meals'.

Compare that to a freshly made giant burrito with crisp veggies, pico de gallo salsa, rice & black beans, that you pick up at the friendly mexican family's place down the street. Sooooo goooood and nutritious, for $4.

Sorry, need to make quick 4-dollar run... :D

[HopeHoops]

7. There are so many options - real food at a good price and no long wait.

[pasto76]

10. I contributed my part to their profit margin

and have the weight gain to prove it. However, you make an excellent post. I will dispatch my trusty and beloved wife to find such eateries, and will frequent them more than my sacred quarter pounder with cheese. (Take the onions off, and put on a handful of fries and ketchup. Poor mans Primanti Bros)

SGT PASTO

[Le Taz Hot]

23. And now is the time that we really need

to support the mom-and-pops, whether it be restaurants, hardware stores, clothing stores, whatever.

[Odin2005]

26. many mom-n-pops aren't much better then McDonald's in my experience

I worked at one when I was in high school and much of the stuff was processed frozen shit.

[Le Taz Hot]

28. But many of the mom-and-pops ARE providing.

excellent services/goods. If they offer poor quality services/goods then the free market will take care of them. The point being if more of us would consider mom-and-pops for the goods/services we need as opposed to just automatically going to the big box places, then we are serving our local economy as the profits are not going to some shareholders 2500 miles away.

[LanternWaste]

25. One of the BEST things about living in Texas is...

One of the BEST things about living in Texas is the access I have to neighborhood taquerias. A huge enchilada, rice, salsa and chips, and a coke-- all for (just as you said) 4 bucks.

And for my part-- I hope the local taquerias never become popular enough to warrant any changes! :)

[MellowDem]

45. I love that about Texas too...

but in all honesty, I don't think that the ingredients those places use are any better (if even the same quality) as McDs. I've had and seen many many more people get sick from the local Mexican restaurants than from McDs. And I highly doubt it's any healthier.

[dysfunctional press]

32. my mcdonald's breakfast is always real food, and always real good.

english muffin, egg, sausage patty, cheese & hash brown potatoes.

completely real and actual.

[BootinUp]

8. interesting, so the minimum wage hike didn't hurt too much

I guess.

Seems we need some more education on cooking and eating healthy meals though.

[madmom]

11. I'm not sure if they even have to pay minimum wage. This is where the

outrage should be.

[RobinA]

41. Oh Please!

Of course they pay minimum wage. Are facts important AT ALL on DU anymore?

[depakid]

19. Nor would retrictions on manipulative marketing to children on TV

or at school.

[Sgent]

20. I doubt they have

many, if any minimum wage employees.

Most workers at McDonald's restaurants don't work for McDonald's the corporation -- they work for independent franchisees. The franchises pay McDonald's based on revenue (not profit), and I have no idea how franchisee's profits are doing.

[Juan_de_la_Dem]

9. we live in a 99 cent world....it will be the death of us.

[tom_paine]

12. It must please the Aristocratic Elite to no end to see us murdering ourselves with their liver-

destroying franken-concoctions.

How they must laugh themselves to sleep at night, knowingthat they have collectively looted this ocuntry for generations to come, and knowing that we are turning towrds their murderous concotions in our agony. It's a Global Aristocratic Two-Fer!

[ronnie624]

21. No doubt. Obviously, they know better than to eat the stuff. n/t

[mitchum]

13. Their slop will never be cheap enough to be palatable

[pinniped]

14. Their freedumb fries give me chest pains.

.

[Sub Atomic]

15. When the economy turns sour, more people eat fast food.

It can be a cheaper option, especially with the expansion of their Dollar Menu.

I think it's' interesting to read in the article that they had a 23% decline in 4th quarter net profit. IIRC, they changed things around and expanded their dollar menu in November. This would be a good indicator of why their profit fell in the 4th quarter.

I disagree with truthisfreedom. I think their profits are going to fall in 2009 as more people either skip eating there altogether or stick solely to the Dollar Menu.

Their 1st quarter results for this year should let us know how they're going to do overall.

[sarcasmo]

16. The Dollar menu kicks every other fast food joints ASS and the 80 percent profit is the proof.

[underpants]

35. I agree and their coffee is delicious

I have grabbed a McChicken sandwich (two really) and put it in a salad. It's cheap and without the bun basically I am paying for the convenience.

We are mostly organic/local and all that but in a fix doing errands I will pop into a McD's and grab a coffee and McChicken sandwich. :shrug:

[sarcasmo]

40. I do the same thing, get two of them plain, throw away the bun and slap half a piece of cheese on

nuke for 30 seconds, makes a decent meal.

[OhioChick]

17. Fast food gives me the shits.

:hurts:

[HopeHoops]

30. Garbage in - garbage out.

[TygrBright]

18. Great! Does that mean they can afford to start using actual FOOD in their product....

...to supplement the industrially-produced foodlike substances that make up 96.4% of the calories they sell?

Probably not.

ironically,
Bright

[PittPoliSci]

22. seriously, am i the only person who likes mcdonalds?

i know it's terrible for you.

i know the food sucks.

but i love their food, and you know what, it doesn't make me a bad person.

i'm physically fit, i don't eat it every day, and occasionally, i feel like eating something from there.

i'm sick of all the haters.

[Le Taz Hot]

24. Show me that post

that states "If you eat at McDonalds you are a bad person." I'll wait.

[Odin2005]

27. I do.

:yoiks:

[conspirator]

31. I have no problems eating at mcdonalds once a month. But once a week no. The poison would

start to accumulate in my system.
Do you know why you feel like eating at mcd? They use all sorts of flavour enhancers and addictive taste chemicals.
So you should question yourself if you are not addicted to the taste.
The most important effect of food is how it makes you feel 1 hour after, when you are assimilating the nutrients.
With mcd food you feel good while chewing it, for 20 about minutes. After that you will feel less satisfied than if you had eaten a nice juicy steak.

[WriteDown]

43. Addictive taste chemicals?

Flavor enhancers? Really? REALLY? :)

[dysfunctional press]

33. i eat breakfast at mcdonald's almost every day. and i'm not even obese.

although- except for salads, i can't handle their non-breakfast menu.

[underpants]

36. I *LOVE* Egg McMuffins

and my wife and I are all about organic/local etc but damn a Egg McMuffin is really good. Especially right after a 10 mile run. YUM!

[RobinA]

42. I Like McDonalds

They have made many good additions to their menu and have added healthy alternatives. I worked there many moons ago. I'd trust their food over a lot of other places, including any number of Lean Cuisines and whatever quick food people chose to eat. Everything I ever saw there was real. Maybe not the milk shakes. I don't think the food is any worse for you than a lot of other processed food out there, and probably better than some. They're just fun to bash, like WalMart, because they are big.

[paparush]

29. SuperSize US! Then warm up the paddles and ..... CLEAR!!!

[pinniped]

34. I haven't seen McJobs lowering any prices lately.

Their prices just keep going up, and so will their revnue.

[NashVegas]

37. Bullshit Factor: Profits Up 80%, Sales Up Less Than 10%

IOW, the huge gain came from cutting costs far more than increasing sales.

Global comparable sales in 2008 increased 6.9 percent. That included rises of 4.0 percent in the United States, 8.5 percent in Europe, and 9.0 percent in Asia/Pacific, Middle East and Africa, the company said.

[alcibiades_mystery]

38. I haven't eaten any chain fast food in almost ten years

Does this make me like the guy who brags about not having a TV?

:evilgrin:

I really haven't. I'm 34 years old, and will probably never eat McDonald's again. When people eat it around me I'm disgusted by the smell - physically disgusted. It's weird. I guess it's the same reaction other people have after they quit smoking. McDonald's is like that: shitty for you, unhealthy, and gross, even though you don't notice how gross it actually is.

[Regret My New Name]

47. I used to work next to a burger king...

The smell used to make me want to vomit.

[JeanGrey]

39. Of course. Cheap food. Why is anyone surprised?

And actually you can eat quite well if you watch what you get.

[CakeGrrl]

44. I hope anyone relying on McD's on a *regular* basis has good health coverage

Maybe some of these consumers missed seeing "Super Size Me". Hopefully they're trying to follow the sales at grocery stores. You can still catch basic items at reasonable prices if you track what goes on sale at which grocery chain.

Besides which, fast food isn't as "cheap" as it's perceived to be. I'm pretty sure you get less for your money at McD's than you did 10 or 20 years ago.

[jmowreader]

48. Super Size Me: what a waste of fucking time that one was

Is there anyone on DU who didn't know that eating nothing but the largest, fattiest portions of McDonalds food three times a day for a month will destroy your health and make you look like Private Pyle in Full Metal Jacket?

[budkin]

46. I loves me some McNuggets

Damn those things are tasty