McDonald’s New Zealand profit jumps to $108.7m as fast-food giant plans six new restaurants
McDonald's New Zealand has reported growth in food sales despite the rising costs of ingredients.
McDonald’s New Zealand’s head office has lifted its revenue and profit for the 2025 financial year, as the company continues its expansion plans across the country before its 50th year in business.
McDonald’s Restaurants NZ is the New Zealand franchisor and a subsidiary of the US-based McDonald’s Corporation.
It owns the site or has the head lease on all franchised restaurants, and also operates 18 restaurants in Auckland.
For the year ended December 31, 2025, McDonald’s New Zealand reported total revenue of $350.1 million, up 6.4% from $328.9m in 2024.
Breaking that figure down, revenue from the sale of goods lifted from $150.3m in 2024 to $161.7m in 2025, increasing by 7.5% year-on-year.
A further $635,000 was attributed to licence fees, while service fees, which refers to the monthly royalty-style revenues collected from franchise operators for the rights to use the McDonald’s brand, lifted from $52.5m in 2024 to $55m in 2025.
Rental revenue for the business also grew, up from $125.5m in 2024 to $132.7m in 2025.
As for expenses, employee benefits grew from $51m in 2024 to $55.7m in 2025, up 9.2%.
In August 2025, between 20 and 40 employees of the McDonald’s St Lukes location walked off the job after a below-inflation pay offer.
The largest expense increase was for “other expenses”, which lifted from $12.9m in 2024 to $25.2m in 2025, a 95.2% increase.
However, no information is given in the financial statements as to what this was spent on.
The head office reported a net profit for the year of $108.7m, up from $59.7m the year prior.
The significant difference can be attributed to a lower income tax expense for 2025 of just $41.3m.
The company had to pay $87.3m in income tax in 2024 because of a deferred tax hit from changes in the way building depreciation was accounted for.
Value v cost increases
McDonald’s New Zealand head of impact and communications Simon Kenny said the results reflected a strong performance in a challenging operating environment.
“The 2025 financial performance was driven by the core strengths of the McDonald’s business model, and the ‘three-legged stool’ of the corporate, franchisees and suppliers,” Kenny said.
“There was a key focus on delivering to customer value and affordability expectations, while mitigating significant increases in food costs, in particular beef.”
McDonald’s spent more than $200m on produce with local suppliers in 2025.
Kenny said the company’s app and loyalty programme MyMacca’s continued to grow in popularity, with the company adding mobile order and pay functionality in 2025. The number of loyalty members is commercially sensitive, but Kenny said it serves around 1.5 million people a week.
The company’s delivery option also grew as a percentage of sales in 2025, although the amount is unknown.
Kenny said the improvements, combined with a strong marketing calendar, enabled McDonald’s to lift share and key brand metrics, while much of the quick-service restaurant and informal eating-out markets were in decline.
In 2025, the business opened new restaurants in Green Island, Taupō, Lynfield and Dairy Flat, while franchisees also continued to invest in upgrading existing restaurants.
Property, plant and equipment increased from $309.4m to $357.7m over the year, reflecting that investment in new sites.
Kenny said McDonald’s hoped to invest around $60m in capital expenditure in 2026, with plans to open at least six new restaurants.
The recently opened Newmarket site is the 177th restaurant in New Zealand, while the company’s Pakuranga site was reopened on May 29 after a fire tore through the location in May last year.
On June 7 the company also celebrates its 50th year operating in New Zealand, with its first location being McDonald’s Porirua.
“We’ll be celebrating that anniversary with customers, franchisees, staff and suppliers throughout the rest of 2026.”
Tom Raynel is a multimedia business journalist for the Herald, covering small business, retail and tourism.
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