McDonald's Sees Management Churn

McDonald's Corp. ( MCD - Analyst Report ) recently named Tim Fenton as the new Chief Operating Officer (COO) worldwide. The management churn comes in the wake of the retirement of present Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Jim Skinner. Effective July 1, 2012, the current COO Thompson will serve as the CEO of McDonald’s and subsequently Fenton will hold the office of COO.

Fenton, who serves as the President of McDonald’s Asia, Pacific, Middle East and Africa (APMEA), boasts of valuable experience of 39 years with McDonald's and played a key role in the development of the company in the international markets. During his time at McDonald’s, he performed an array of pivotal roles.

Under his leadership, the company achieved new heights in terms of overall performance, implementation of strategies and profitability in APMEA. As President of McDonald's APMEA, Fenton is responsible for more than 8,800 restaurants in 37 countries.

Earlier, Fenton was the president of the East Division for McDonald's USA. He was in charge of more than 5,200 restaurants in the eastern United States, comprising 21 states. Prior to that, Fenton worked as senior vice president of Southeast Asia/Middle East/Africa where he looked after 1,300 restaurants in 22 countries. Fenton also served as the vice president and managing director of McDonald's Middle East Development Company as well as several key roles in Asia, Poland, Central Europe, and the U.S.

Considering his vast know-how across various geographies and solid track record, we expect him to justify his new role ahead. We also expect the transition to be smooth as both the promotees have long been associated with the company.

McDonald's currently retains a Zacks #3 Rank, which translates into a short-term Hold rating. We are maintaining our long-term Neutral recommendation on the stock.

As a point of reference, one of the company’s peers, Panera Bread Company ( PNRA - Analyst Report ) also announced a COO change. Prior to that, Panera management appointed new CFO on an interim basis responding to the resignation of its previous CFO.