The Wendy’s Company has reported a bigger sales decline in its fourth quarter, as weak performance in the US continued to hamper growth.

Global systemwide sales for the quarter ended December 28 slid 8.3 per cent, accelerating from the 2.6 per cent decline in the third quarter.

The fast-food chain’s US business saw a significant 10.5 per cent drop in sales, with company-operated restaurant margin falling by 3.8 per cent to 12.7 per cent. This was attributed to a decline in traffic, commodity inflation, and labor rate inflation. 

The international segment continued to perform well, with sales increasing by 6.2 per cent.

On a same-restaurant basis, total sales were down 10.1 per cent, with US down 11.3 per cent and international down 2 per cent.

Operating profit for the quarter plunged 33 per cent to $64 million, and net income fell 44 per cent to $26.5 million. 

“Our fourth quarter performance was in line with our expectations, reflecting the challenges we anticipated,” commented Ken Cook, interim CEO. “We are making progress against our Project Fresh turnaround plan in the US and continue to deliver strong growth internationally.”

The company previously revealed it would close “a mid-single-digit percentage” of US locations as part of the turnaround. This would amount to around 200 to 350 restaurants in Wendy’s 6000-location network in the country.

For the full year, Wendy’s systemwide sales decreased 3.5 per cent, including a 5.2 per cent drop in the US and 8.1 per cent increase in international markets. Net income is down 15 per cent to $165 million.

For the new fiscal year, the chain expects its global systemwide sales to be approximately flat