Unhappy Meal: McDonald's Serves Up Big Charge With Its Loss

Updated from 12:04 p.m. EST

The first-ever quarterly loss for McDonald's MCD was much bigger than expected because of a huge charge for restructuring operations. The fast-food giant also conceded that the days of its double-digit profit growth are behind it.

The restaurant operator said it lost $203.4 million, or 27 cents a share, in the fourth quarter, compared with earnings of $482.7 million, or 21 cents a share, in the year-ago period. It took a charge of $810.2 million, or 52 cents a share, as it exited businesses in certain markets and closed low-volume stores.

In December, McDonald's forecast a narrower fourth-quarter net loss of 5 cents to 6 cents a share and a smaller charge of around $400 million, although it said there could be others. After the announcement, the restaurant operator said it decided to close an additional 517 stores and terminated a long-term technology project, resulting in a bigger charge.

In all, McDonald's shuttered 719 underperforming restaurants in the fourth quarter. The company said it plans to close at least 400 traditional and 200 satellite stores this year.

Before items, McDonald's earned 25 cents a share, in line with its previously lowered guidance of 25 cents to 26 cents a share and analysts' reduced estimates, according to Thomson Financial/First Call.

"We had very low expectations," said Allan Hickok, an analyst at U.S. Bancorp Piper Jaffray.

Revenue grew 2% to $3.9 billion in the fourth quarter, while systemwide sales -- which have been an area of weakness for the company over the past several quarters -- were up 2% to $10.5 billion.

"Our first priority is to fix our existing business and, in doing so, rebuild our foundation for profitable growth," said chief executive Jim Cantalupo, who took over last month, in a statement.