McDonald's plans expansion

McDonald's plans expansion

CHICAGO (Reuters): After reporting a 7 percent gain in third- quarter earnings and a cutback in its Asian expansion, McDonald's Corp. said Monday the fast food company plans to open about 2,000 new restaurants worldwide in 1999.

This year, Chief Executive Jack Greenberg said, McDonald's will open about 100 fewer restaurants than it expected in five Southeast Asian countries due to tough economic times in the region. They are Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Korea and Philippines.

"It's just a recognition -- especially in Indonesia, for example, where the economy is in a serious depression -- of the fact that you've got to be more careful in your opening strategy," Greenberg said in an interview.

McDonald's also said it would close about 200 U.S. restaurants this year, which Greenberg called mistakes, resulting in a total of 1,800 store openings for 1998.