McDonald's has pledged to boost its performance in Australia and other key markets after reporting a first-quarter drop in profits of 5.2 per cent.
Profit for the first three months of the year was $US1.20 billion ($A1.29 billion) compared with $US1.27 billion in the year-ago period.
Diluted earnings per share of $US1.26 were down 4.0 per cent from a year ago and came in three cents shy of Wall Street expectations.
Revenues rose 1.4 per cent to $US6.70 billion, slightly below estimates.
The home of the Golden Arches said that in the US, comparable sales - sales of restaurants open at least a year - fell 1.7 per cent in the January-March period and operating income dropped 3.0 per cent.
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McDonald's said the weakness in sales came "amid challenging industry dynamics and severe winter weather".
The Illinois-based company says its US segment remains focused on improving the restaurant experience by pushing for operations and service excellence, customer engagement and menu choice.
Overall global comparable sales rose 0.5 per cent in the first quarter.
Europe sales rose 1.4 per cent in the quarter but were weighed down by ongoing weakness in Germany, Europe's largest economy.
Sales in Asia/Pacific, Middle East and Africa edged up 0.8 per cent.
McDonald's pledged to boost performance in key markets including the US, Germany, Australia and Japan.
McDonald's president and chief executive Don Thompson said the near-term priority was to improve food and beverage options and service.
"We are intent on pursuing initiatives that will strengthen our relationship with our customers to reignite our business momentum."
The company is the world's largest fast-food chain, serving about 70 million customers in more than 100 countries daily.
