Hundreds of McDonald's restaurants have already been closed this year amid the company's financial struggles — and hundreds more are set to close after Wednesday's first quarter earnings report.
According to McDonald's executives, the company saw a global sales decrease of 2.3 percent in the quarter that ended March 31. The company also reported an 11 percent decrease in total revenues.
The report revealed that 350 McDonald's locations were closed worldwide during the quarter but apparently that wasn't enough. Company executives said they planned to slash $72 million of asset write-offs by closing "about 220 under-performing restaurants, primarily in the U.S. and China," as well as 130 restaurants in Japan.
The report did not reveal which locations would soon be serving their last Big Macs.
"We took a meaningful step [toward long-term growth] in the first quarter with the decision to close under-performing restaurants that are not contributing to our profitability," said Kevin Ozan, McDonald's chief financial officer, in Wednesday's report.
The company will reveal details of a turnaround plan on May 4.
Clint Davis is a writer for the E.W. Scripps National Desk. Follow him on Twitter @MrClintDavis.
