NEW YORK (Standard&Poor's) Oct. 21, 2014--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services said today that McDonald's Corp.'s recent store comps are weaker than many of its competitors and, therefore, we think it is timely that the company outlined a number of initiatives aimed at improving traffic globally and moderating capital spending. Still, we expect weak sales but possibly more moderate declines over the next few quarters. The company's third quarter was weaker than we previously forecasted. The declines were most acute in its APMEA division as a result of a supplier issue, with comparable store sales down 9.9% and operating income was down 55%. We note the sales declines moderated somewhat in September and the company's performance and unit growth
