McDonald's managed to eke out a higher profit for its first quarter even as the world's biggest hamburger chain failed to lift sales with its Dollar Menu.
The company said Friday that an important sales measurement fell 1 percent during the period and warned that it's expected to dip again in April.
That marked the first quarterly decline in a decade in sales at restaurants open at least 13 months and underscored the troubles the company has been facing.
As Burger King and Wendy's have stepped up their marketing over the past year or so, McDonald's has responded by aggressively touting its Dollar Menu and other value deals to hold onto customers in an industry where imitation is rampant.
The strategy has caused concern among analysts who worry that it could eat into profit margins. It's also rankled some McDonald's franchisees, who operate the vast majority of its restaurants in the U.S.
But in a conference call with analysts Friday, McDonald's executives insisted that offering cheaper prices was necessary in the current climate. Since the restaurant industry is barely growing, they said McDonald's needs to steal customers away from rivals to grow.
'That battle for market share has become so critical for the long-term health of business, we're willing to sacrifice that margin,' said Peter Bensen, the company's chief financial officer.
Although profit margins decli.