TOKYO: McDonald’s Holdings Co. (Japan) said Thursday that its group net profit in January-March surged 23.3 pct from a year before to 5,813 million yen in defiance of the fallout of the novel coronavirus epidemic.

The hamburger chain’s sales in the first quarter of its current business year were up 5.0 pct at 75,891 million yen.

The number of eat-in customers decreased due to the government’s second state of emergency over the coronavirus, which covered up to 11 prefectures, including Tokyo. But sales from takeout services, including through a drive-thru system, and delivery services were robust.

The number of stores offering delivery services stood at 1,629 across Japan at the end of March, more than double the 781 a year before. Almost all McDonald’s restaurants in the nation have introduced a system allowing customers to make orders and payments via smartphones.

Monthly sales have been rising year on year on a same-store basis since July 2020. In April this year, same-store sales went up 9.2 pct.

At an online press conference Thursday, company executive Keiji Nakazawa said that the firm plans to increase the number of stores with delivery services.

For the full year to December, McDonald’s Holdings Co. (Japan) kept its consolidated earnings estimates unchanged, citing uncertain factors such as the coronavirus infection situation. Sales are put at 299.5 billion yen, up 3.9 pct from the previous year, and net profit at 20.4 billion yen, up 1.1 pct.

JIJI Press