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 Quote) 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. ...