Financial News: McDonald's, RadioShack, Rubio's <b></b>
Oak Brook, Illinois-McDonald's Corp. expects profitsto sink in the fourth quarter compared with a year ago-its fifthconsecutive year-on-year quarterly decline. Net profit for thequarter is expected to be between 21 and 22 cents a share, as salesin Asia were hurt because of concerns about the safety of the beefsupply in Japan, the company said in a press release. A year ago,McDonald's had a net profit of 34 cents per share in the fourthquarter. -Associated Press
Fort Worth, Texas-Electronics retailer RadioShack Corp.said it expects 2002 earnings per share to increase by 13 percentto 15 percent versus 2001 results. -Reuters
Carlsbad, California-Rubio's Restaurants Inc.announced a preliminary comparable sales increase for the 13 weeksended December 30th of 0.8 percent. This increase is better thanthe previous projections, due primarily to the success of a crispyshrimp taco promotion in San Diego and improved comparable sales incertain out-of-state stores. -Business Wire
