McDonalds Q4 profit registers sharp fall

A tax benefit last year led McDonalds Corp to report a 23 percent drop in its fourth-quarter profit Monday,but strong same-store sales helped the hamburger chain beat Wall Streets expectations. The Oak Brook,Ill.-based chain said its net income for the quarter ended December 31 fell to 985.3 million,or 87 cents per share,from 1.27 billion,or 1.06 per share,a year ago.

The year-earlier quarter included a tax benefit of 33 cents per share. Excluding that,the companys profit was 73 cents per share in that quarter. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expected profit of 83 cents per share on revenue of 5.70 billion.

Despite high ingredient costs,the company reported an 8 per cent decline in total operating costs and expenses. High prices for beef,cheese and other ingredients contributed to its decision to raise the price of its popular Double Cheeseburger in November and replace the sandwich on the Dollar Menu with a new double burger that has one slice of cheese instead of two.