24 Apr 2014

MacDonald's profits from pies

2:57 pm on 24 April 2014

The relaunch of Georgie Pie helped to boost McDonald's sales by nearly 6 percent last year.

Sales rose to $216 million, though the company's after tax profit was flat at $30 million.

But those figures aren't a true reflection of how much was spent in McDonald's restaurants last year.

Of the 163 McDonald's restaurants in New Zealand, McDonald's only owns 20 percent.

The results reflect those restaurants plus any rental income or franchisee royalties from the other 80 percent of the stores.

Those other 80 percent are owner-operated and their sales figures are not included in these results.

Nevertheless, McDonald's managing director, Patrick Wilson, says the roll-out of Georgie Pie last year helped boost sales.

The reason the profit was flat was because the company paid more tax, more wages and opened new stores.

Mr Wilson says McDonald's is a big contributor to New Zealand's economy, employing 9000 people and buying $170 million worth of goods from local suppliers.

He says exporters also sold nearly $500 million of food to McDonald's restaurants all over the world.