The latest quarterly figures from McDonald's, the global fast food chain, show a 10% fall in net income from $590 million in the second quarter of 2004 to $530 million for the same period in 2005. The company blames the drop on the tax costs associated with the repatriation of foreign earnings, which has cost the company $3.2 billion. However the tax costs have been offset by a rise in US earnings of 7% from the previous quarter following the addition of new menu items.
July 31 2005