McDonald's bound to lose $50 million per month for leaving Russia

McDonald's finally closed down its restaurant outlets in Russia this week after being criticized by the public for staying open amid the ongoing war in Ukraine. The company has been operating a total of 850 stores in the Vladimir Putin-led country, and it stated it would be losing $50 million per month for the closures.

Although the shutting down of McDonald's is just temporary, there is no certain time as to when it can return to operation. The re-opening of its business will depend on the situation in Ukraine, and the company said it is expecting huge losses until it can operate again.

According to CNBC, during the UBS Global Consumer and Retail Conference on Wednesday, March 9, McDonald's chief financial officer, Kevin Ozan, said that they are still calculating the impact of the closure on the company, but at this time, their estimates suggest around $50 million a month.

This amount is said to be roughly $.05 cents to $.06 cents per share. To understand how much this is - McDonald's Q4 net income was $1.64 billion, and its earnings per share was $2.18.

"We expect this to be temporary and we certainly don't take this decision lightly, but for us, this is about doing what we think is the right thing to do, both for the global business and for our people locally," the CFO said during the conference.

Meanwhile, it was on Tuesday, March 8, when McDonald's announced it will be shutting down its restaurants in Russia. All of its 850 stores will temporarily cease operations. Los Angeles Times reported that the company will still continue to pay its 62,000 staff while the outlets are closed.

"We are continuing to pay full salaries for our Ukrainian employees and have donated $5 million to our Employee Assistance Fund, and continue to support relief efforts led by the International Red Cross in the region," McDonald's president and chief executive officer, Chris Kempczinski, said via a memo to employees. "We have been overwhelmed by the offers of support across the System and thank you for your generous contributions to date."