McDonald's yesterday said sales at its hamburger restaurants open at least 13 months rose 5.2 per cent in January as strong sales in the United States and Europe helped it beat some analysts' expectations.

Four Wall Street analysts' estimates ranged between a rise of one per cent and four per cent, according to research reports.

The company said total sales rose 8.3 per cent during January.

The world's largest fast-food chain said same-store sales, a key retail measure, 4.1 per cent in the United States, its No. 1 market, and 5.4 per cent in Europe, its No. 2 market.

The European results received a boost from the company's value menu in Germany, Chief Executive Jim Skinner said in a statement.

Same-store sales rose 7.1 per cent in the company's Asia/Pacific, Middle East and Africa division.

Shares of McDonald's rose 0.58 per cent to $32.97 in before-the-bell trading on the Inet electronic brokerage system.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.