McDonald's Sales Rise 6.9% in April

McDonald's Corp reported a 6.9 percent rise in April sales at restaurants open at least 13 months, as strength in the United States helped offset the impact of the stronger dollar.

AP

McDonald's

April same-store sales rose 6.1 percent in the U.S., helped by new coffee drinks and chicken snack wraps.

Shares of the company , which is one of the restaurant industry's top performers due in large measure to its Dollar Menu, were up 2 percent at $54.60 in premarket electronic trading.

Fast-food restaurants have generally held up better in the recession than higher-priced sit-down restaurants.

But even fast-food sellers have not been immune to the impact of the downturn. The U.S. fast-food industry saw its first quarterly traffic decline since 2003 in the quarter ended in February, according to market research company NPD Group.

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The stronger dollar, which lessens the dollar-value of sales made overseas, led to an overall 1 percent decline at worldwide McDonald's restaurants, the company said. Sales rose 8.9 percent in constant currencies.

Same-store sales rose 8.4 percent in Europe, helped by the shift of the Easter holiday to April from March, while same-store sales in the company's Asia/Pacific, Middle East and Africa segment rose 6.5 percent.