McDonald”s Romania, which operates the McDonald”s restaurant chain, saw its sales rise by 14-15% in ROL for the first three months of the year, said Cristian Savu, the company”s communication manager.
“The growth seen in the first quarter confirms the continuation of last year”s positive trend and is in line with our targets. Our expectations for the year in terms of total sales have not changed,” he said.
The company”s announced sales target for 2005 is 1,700 billion ROL (around 61 million dollars). This year they chose to set their target in local currency owing to the ascending tendency of the ROL against the main foreign currencies seen in recent years.
Calculated in dollars, the expected growth rate for the company is in the region of 27%, as based on the weak dollar as compared to ROL last year.
Last year sales grew by around 15% to reach nearly 47.5 million dollars.
For this year the company expects its operating profits to hit 45-50 billion ROL ($1.5m).
Last year, McDonald”s Romania enjoyed one of its best years to date since entering the Romanian market, with its restaurants benefiting from the higher purchasing power of the population, company representatives say.
This summer McDonald”s will celebrate its first ten years on the Romanian market.
The first restaurant in Romania was opened in the summer of 1995 at the Unirea Shopping Center in Bucharest. Ten years later, their number has grown to 52, with the latest restaurant opening at Plaza Romania in Bucharest earlier this year. The company employs around 2,300 people in Romania.
“We are in talks for the opening of new restaurants and will announce more precise dates when negotiations are finalised,” explained Savu on being asked about expansion plans for this year.
All but one of McDonald”s Romania restaurants represent their own investments – the exception being the McDonald”s in Brasov, which is the only franchise to have been granted in Romania.
Trade centres, such as hypermarkets and Mall-type complexes, are one of McDonald”s main targets.
The company is also looking to other Romanian cities, after having strengthened its presence in Bucharest amid competition from KFC, Spring Time, Pizza Hut, Gregory”s, Everest, Bonjour and Snack Attack.
The fast food market in Bucharest is becoming increasingly tough, with new companies setting up all the time.
McDonald”s Romania added that they would continue to expand their menu this year to include diet foods. The company recently added a range of salads to its menu.
Globally, McDonald”s turns over some 20 billion dollars a year on which it has a net profit margin of over 20%.
georgiana.stavarache@zf.ro