UPDATE 1-McDonald's sets 2010 capital spending at $2.4 bln - News

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UPDATE 1-McDonald's sets 2010 capital spending at $2.4 bln

By: AFX | 12 Nov 2009 | 12:18 PM ET

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CHICAGO, Nov 12 (Reuters) - McDonald's Corp plans to spend $2.4 billion on capital improvements in 2010 as it continues to revamp restaurants and expand in emerging markets, the world's largest restaurant company said on Thursday. Half of the spending will be on new restaurants and the other half will be spent on remodeling existing restaurants, Chief Financial Officer Pete Bensen told analysts during a presentation McDonald's, which has more than 32,000 restaurant, plans to open 1,000 restaurants next year, Bensen said. The company plans to open more restaurants with drive-throughs, which cost more, but have higher returns, The company plans to open 150-175 restaurants in China and 40 in Russia, both fast-growing emerging markets. The capital spending is an increase from 2009, the world's largest restaurant operator said in a presentation to analysts, though it did not say what the 2009 amount was. The company also said it continues to exceed its long-term targets of 3 percent to 5 percent annual sales growth and 6 percent to 7 percent operating income growth, excluding currency fluctuations. The company said currency fluctuations will add 10 cents to 13 cents to 2010 earnings, based on current exchange rates. McDonald's also said it expects 2010 commodity costs to be relatively flat in the United States and Europe, with easy comparisons in the first half of 2010 against the year earlier period. McDonald's, which has been outperforming its peers, posted a 0.1 percent dip in sales at U.S. stores open at least 13 months in October, the first decline since March 2008. McDonald's shares were down 63 cents, or 1 percent, at $62.20 in noon trading Thursday on the New York Stock Exchange. (Reporting by Brad Dorfman; Editing by Tim Dobbyn) ((bradley.dorfman@thomsonreuters.com; +1 312 408 8133; Reuters Messaging: bradley.dorfman.reuters.com@reuters.net )) Keywords: MCDONALDS/ (See http://blogs.reuters.com/shop- talk/ for Shop Talk -- Reuters' retail and consumer blog) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved.

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