McDonald's / MCD

About McDonald's

One McDonald's Plaza, Oak Brook, Ill. 60523
www.mcdonalds.com | 630-623-3000 | Founded: 1955

Industry: Hospitality And Travel | Category: Major Employers Not Based in the Region

Celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2005, McDonald's has been striving to be hipper and healthier. It has been remodeling many of its restaurants, is updating its red and yellow uniforms, and has even slimmed down Ronald McDonald, getting rid of the clown's baggy pants to create a trimmer and more active mascot.
Addressing concerns about nutrition and obesity — and the negative publicity it received from the 2004 film "Super Size Me" — the chain dropped its giant servings and added entree salads to its menu. It is now considering selling an Asian salad, testing a version that contains edamame. McDonald's also has started rolling out a new nutritional labeling program, with calories and fat content printed on a product's wrapper. For better or worse, consumers can know immediately what's in the food they eat, instead of having to check on the company's Web site or a pamphlet often hidden behind the counter.
The company has also made it easier for customers to order and run as it now sells a reloadable gift card, the "Arch." It also is doubling the number of locations that accept credit and debit card payments.
These changes have all had a positive effect on the company's bottom line as well as its stock price.
Company revenue for 2005 was up 7 percent from 2004. Profit was up 14 percent. McDonald's stock has been hovering near $35 since the first of the year, up from a low of $12.12 in March 2003.
But the company still has plenty of critics, including activist shareholder William Ackman of Pershing Square Capital Management LLC whose hedge fund bought about 4.5 percent of the chain's stock. Ackman called for a corporate restructuring, urging McDonald's to spin off 65 percent of its company-owned restaurants and borrow billions of dollars against its real estate assets to buy back shares.
The company has dismissed Ackman's proposal as an "exercise in financial engineering."
Recently, the company said it would turn over more than 100 company-owned units in Britain to franchisees, acknowledging that its franchised restaurants perform slightly better than its company-owned stores. It said that no company-owned restaurants in the United States would be affected.
In January, the Chipotle chain sold nearly 8 million shares of stock to the public, with about 20 percent of the shares coming from McDonald's, the rest from Chipotle. The shares opened at $22, well above the initial expectation of $18 to $20 and closed at $44 the first day. McDonald's still holds a majority stake in the Mexican food chain.
The company is also facing a number of lawsuits related to its disclosure in February that its french fries contain wheat and dairy products, which can cause allergic reactions in food-sensitive consumers.

CFO: Peter Bensen

2005 Financial Data

Revenues: $20,460,200,000 | Net Income: $2,602,200,000
Asssets: $29,988,800,000 | Earnings Per Share: $2.04
Stockholder Equity: $15,146,100,000 | Annual Dividend: $0.67
Total employees: 447,000 | Local employees: 31,500