McDONALD’S REPORTED global February sales that missed Wall Street’s target, as analysts underestimated what effect Europe’s harsh winter and economic upheaval would have on sales.

The company also warned that economic uncertainty could have an impact on profit growth, sending its shares down more than 3 per cent.

The results showed that the world’s biggest hamburger chain, which has outperformed most of its peers despite worldwide financial turmoil, is not immune to fiscal belt-tightening in Europe and higher food and labour costs in the United States.

“These challenges are expected to impact the company’s first-quarter operating income growth,” McDonald’s said in a statement.

“I was not expecting to read that sentence in this report,” Victory Capital Management analyst Dave Kolpak said.

“We’ve gotten used to being blown away with upside surprises” in McDonald’s monthly same-restaurant sales.

McDonald’s does not give quarterly earnings guidance and company representatives declined to elaborate. – (Reuters)