McDonald’s targets 'ambitious' Irish expansion

McDonald’s has “ambitious” plans to grow further in Ireland, although it has no confirmed intention to open new restaurants this year.

The fast food giant opened five new restaurants last year — in Kildare, Wexford, Westmeath, and two in Cork; in Fermoy and Ballincollig.

“We have ambitious plans to grow the McDonald’s brand in Ireland, and we are always looking for new opportunities in the Irish market,” a spokesperson said.

The company said it had a successful year in Ireland in 2019, serving more than 61m customers and seeing 4% of Irish sales coming from its McDelivery home delivery service. McDonald’s has just signed up Just Eat as an additional delivery provider — due to come on board later this year — to the existing Uber Eats service.

On a group-wide basis, McDonald’s beat forecasts with its quarterly sales and said it would spend more on technology and research in 2020, as the world’s largest burger chain bets on revamped stores and menu additions to lure more diners and gain market share.

Chief executive Chris Kempczinski, who took charge in November after the previous CEO was dismissed, said the global comparable sales growth in 2019 was the chain’s highest in more than 10 years.

McDonald’s reported a 5.9% increase in global comparable sales, both for the full year and the fourth quarter, beating analysts’ forecast for a 5.23% growth.

The group forecast a 5% to 7% constant currency rise in selling, general, and administrative expenses spending on tech this year after a rise of just 1.3% last year, as it continues to invest in technology, and R&D.

- Additional reporting Reuters