McDonald’s blames Israel’s war in Gaza for missing sales target
Al Jazeera
Slump comes after customers in Muslim countries boycotted brand over its perceived support for Israel.
McDonald’s has cited Israel’s war in Gaza as a factor in the fast food giant missing its first quarterly sales target in nearly four years.
McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski said on Monday that the war had had a “disheartening” effect on sales in Middle Eastern countries and other Muslim-majority nations such as Malaysia and Indonesia.
“So long as this conflict, this war, is going on … we’re not expecting to see any significant improvement in this,” Kempczinski said in a conference call.
“It’s a human tragedy, what’s going on, and I think that does weigh on brands like ours.”
Sales growth for the fast food chain’s division for the Middle East, China and India during October-December reached 0.7 percent – far below market expectations of 5.5 percent.
