The world's largest restaurant chain, MacDonald's Corp, said sales at stores open at least 13 months rose 3.3 per cent worldwide last month, trailing analysts' estimates, as US sales growth decelerated. Analysts projected a gain of 4.3 per cent, the average of 13 estimates compiled by Consensus Metrix. Sales in the US advanced 3.3 per cent, the slowest gain in 11 months, the Oak Brook, Illinois-based company said Monday in a statement. Analysts estimated an increase of 5.2 per cent. McDonald's is working to refine its menu and modernise restaurants "amidst a challenging global economic environment," Chief Executive Officer Jim Skinner said in the statement, reported Gulfnews. Employment growth slowed in April as US employers added the fewest number of jobs in six months and wages stagnated, signalling the economic expansion may be cooling. "The entire global business slowed dramatically in the last week" of April, Brian Bittner, a New York-based analyst at Oppenheimer & Co., said in an interview. Consumer trends in the restaurant industry are "unpredictably choppy" now, he said. McDonald's shares fell 2.5 per cent to $93.10 (Dh342) in early New York trading. The shares dropped 0.7 per cent last month. Sales rose 1.1 per cent in Asia Pacific, the Middle East and Africa. Analysts projected growth of 2.8 per cent at locations in the region, the average estimate of analysts surveyed by Consensus Metrix, a researcher owned by Wayne, New Jersey-based Kaul Advisory Group. European sales gained 3.5 per cent, topping the average estimate for a 3.2 per cent increase. The company earlier said sales in Japan fell 3.6 per cent in April.
