McDonald's Holdings Co (Japan) (2702.TK) said it plans to begin shuttering its unprofitable stores in earnest this year by earmarking 75 such outlets for closure, reflecting a 60 pct increase from closures the previous year, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported.

As part of business plans for the fiscal year through Dec 31, the Japanese unit of McDonald's will step up the closure of stores with no prospects of a turnaround, the paper said in a weekend edition.

Of the company's outlets of about 3,800, including franchise-operated stores, approximately 200 are losing money, it said.

Still, McDonald's Japan aims to open roughly 100 stores, up 30 pct year-on-year, marking the first time in four years that openings will reach this number. An additional 400 stores will be renovated, with capital spending expected to be around 22 bln yen, the paper said.

On Friday, McDonald's Japan said that for fiscal 2006, it forecasts group pretax profit in the range of 2.5-5.0 bln yen. Compared with fiscal 2004, this would be between a 13 pct drop and a 75 pct rise.

The company expects sales of between 339-351 bln yen, a 4-8 pct increase.

Same-store sales are estimated to grow from 1 pct to 4 pct, while net profit is expected to grow 17-42 times on fiscal 2005, for between 1.0 bln and 2.5 bln yen, the report said.
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