McDonald's profits down

McDonald's has said that profits in the second quarter fell 2 cents a share as the fast food chain absorbed higher operating costs.

For the quarter, McDonald's said it made US$470.9m, or 37 cents a share, compared to US$497.5m, or 39 cents a share, a year ago.

The results were in line with the expectations of analysts reporting to Reuters Research.

Shares were higher by 3% in pre-market trading to US$21.94.

Total sales rose 11 percent to US$4.28bn -- an all-time high for the 48-year-old restaurant chain from US$3.86bn.

The results, though down, marked a pivotal period in a turnaround for the struggling company.

Comparable-stores sales jumped 4.9% at US locations -- the highest increase in five years and the first positive shift in many quarters -- while worldwide same-store sales were higher by 1.2 %.

Chief Executive Jim Cantalupo said that although he was pleased with customer responses to new products, the upturn reflected only the beginning of their worldwide revitalisation plan.