S&P Global Ratings on April 5 affirmed the ratings of McDonald's Corp. at BBB+, with a stable outlook, citing the company's leading global position in the quick-service restaurant segment.

The rating agency, which also affirmed the ratings on McDonald's issuer credit rating, said it predicts that the company's operating performance will continue to improve in the next 12 months.

Ratings said the company is expected to benefit from store image remodeling and its focus on improved ingredients to drive positive traffic growth in the U.S.

It revised its liquidity assessment on McDonald's to strong from adequate, incorporating availability under McDonald's $3.5 billion line of credit.

The agency said the stable outlook reflects its expectation that the restaurant chain's recent turnaround efforts will continue to drive positive guest counts in the U.S. and strong global comparable sales in the coming year.

Ratings said it would lower its rating on McDonald's if the company increases its return of capital to shareholders materially beyond its currently planned levels while experiencing limited improvements in traffic during the next year or two.

It added that a higher rating is unlikely even if the company's operating momentum continues to gain traction with consumers because S&P believes McDonald's will remain focused on returning capital to shareholders in the coming two years.

This S&P Global Market Intelligence news article may contain information about credit ratings issued by S&P Global Ratings, a separately managed division of S&P Global. Descriptions in this news article were not prepared by S&P Global Ratings. The original S&P Global Ratings documents referred to in this news brief can be found here.