McDonald's U.S. sales down as customers spend less

McDonald's U.S. store sales and earnings fell as the burger chain dealt with the fallout of an E. coli outbreak hitting its domestic business last year, according to its latest release, reported Xinhua.

The company said its U.S. same-store sales declined 1.4 percent in the three months ending on Dec. 31, driven in part by customers spending less money per visit. A slowdown in the pace of price increases across restaurants also contributed.

"The chain's fourth-quarter revenue and adjusted earnings per share trailed analysts' expectations," reported The Wall Street Journal about the development on Monday. "Some investors had feared steeper declines, and were upbeat about the company's recovery in many international markets."

McDonald's said it expects to open 2,200 restaurants globally this year, up slightly from the total it projected last year. Around 600 of those locations would be in the United States.