McDonald’s plans to spend US$2 billion in its 2008 financial year and most of the funds will be used to expand its overseas market. The company plans to open at least 125 new restaurants in China.

It is reported in local media that in the 2008 financial year, McDonald’s will arrange US$2 billion for its world development plan. Most of the funds will be used in the overseas market, because the company is considering to reduce the scale of its domestic investment.

The fast food company said in an investor conference that by the end of next financial year, its stockholders’ profit is expected to reach US$15 billion to US$17 billion.

Pete Bensen, the new CFO of McDonald’s said n New York that half of the company’s budget for 2008 will be used to open about 1,000 new restaurants. The leftover part will be used to renovate its 1,600 existing restaurants. Last year, McDonald’s opened 800 new restaurants around the world.

In McDonald’s expansion plan, the company intends to open 125 new restaurants in China and to open 35-40 new restaurants in Russia

Steve Easterbrook, chief executive of McDonald’s in the UK, reported that the fast food giant was serving two million more customers (or rather two million more meals) a month than a year ago. The company needs to boost staff numbers to cope with demand.

“I believe there’s a new reality. Families still want to eat out but clearly they have a less money in their pockets and are searching for value,” Mr Easterbrook said. “Why go out and spend £40 on a meal for four when you can come to McDonald’s and spend £20?” Thus like-for-like sales across the group’s 1,200 restaurants in the UK, employing 67,000 staff, were up by more than 10 per cent over the first half of the year and May was the group’s second-busiest month on record.

McDonald’s, which serves about 60 million customers each month, has been opening restaurants earlier and closing them later. The recruitment drive will be backed by advertisements highlighting the benefits of a “McJob” – the phrase coined by critics in the past to sum up the low wages and poor prospects at McDonald’s. Times and tastes, it seems, may be changing.

Pizza Hut, which is owned by United States food giant Yum! Restaurants International, is launching its new “Pasta Hut” brand in order to promote the group’s new home-delivered Tuscani Pasta products and capture more of the $11.6 billion fast-food industry.

Under the company’s plan, several Sydney Pizza Hut stores will be rebranded as Pasta Hut in the coming weeks, with the concept rolled out across the country over the remainder of the year.

The group is also introducing a host of other measures to boost sales, including a new lunch promotion to boost day-time sales (90% of Pizza Hut sales are at night). Other measures include up-to-date online ordering systems, a new website and more pizza products. The chain will also expand and renovate several of its stores.

Marketing director Angela Richards says the new brand is an attempt to widen the appeal of the Pizza Hut brand.

“The introduction of pasta is a move to give consumers more choice. We offer great pizza and will continue to offer pizza, but the move into pasta is to become more of a home meal replacement choice. We want to be as famous for our pasta as we for our pizza,” she says.

“Pizza and pasta are a very good fit, and have been really well received during testing.”

And despite the harsh economic conditions, Richards says the company is confident the new brand will help attract both new and existing customers.

“We are mindful of the downturn, but in terms of retail spending consumers at the moment are still buying from Pizza Hut – we’ve had the best start to a year we’ve had in seven years. It has become an affordable treat for them. Our customers’ money has shifted from eating out to more affordable treats. We’ll still continue to be part of their options to choose from. For right now, we can play a part during this value-conscious time.”

The rebranding comes at a good time for the industry, with the Retail Food Group posting a solid rise in sales for the first half of the 2008-09 financial year.

The company, which owns the franchising rights to Brumby’s, Michel’s Patisserie, Donut King and BB’s cafe, reports a 5.8% increase in weighted average weekly sales for the six months to 31 December.

The group also predicts a net profit of nearly $9.9 million after tax for the first half of the financial year.

According to China Mobile’s Shanghai branch, its regulations related to micropayments made with mobile phones have been completed and consumers in Shanghai will soon be able to pay with mobile phones in McDonald’s and Starbucks.

China Mobile Shanghai said with a new SIM card that integrates the payment function, people in Shanghai can pay with their original mobile phones in the stores of China Mobile’s cooperative partners, including McDonald’s and Starbucks.

The new SIM cards are expected to realize volume production within two months. At the end of April or the beginning of May 2009, China Mobile Shanghai will invite a group of users to experience this new service first.

A representative from China Mobile Shanghai told local media that users can complete the small-scale payments by placing the mobile phones near the card reader. The costs for the change of a SIM card are between CNY50 and CNY100. The accounts of these new SIM cards are bound with the bank card or credit card accounts of users. Once the money in the SIM cards is used up, they can recharge by simply sending a short message.