McDonald’s Names New CFO, Promoting From Within

McDonald’s Corp. has tapped a new finance chief as it works to revamp its U.S. franchise system and manage high inflation.

The Chicago-based fast-food chain on Monday said that Ian Borden will become chief financial officer, effective Sept. 1. Current CFO Kevin Ozan will take on the role of senior executive vice president, responsible for strategic initiatives, on the same date, the company said. Mr. Ozan plans to retire by mid-2023, after more than 25 years with the company, McDonald’s said.
 

Mr. Borden is president of the chain’s international operations, a role he took on in 2019. Since joining McDonald’s in 1994, he has led the company’s finances in several key regions around the world, including Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Africa as well as Russia and Eastern Europe.

Before his current role, Mr. Borden was president of the international developmental licensed markets business where he led more than 80 markets across Asia, Japan, Middle East and Africa, Europe and Latin America.

The change in the CFO post comes as McDonald’s is planning significant changes to its U.S. franchise system. Franchisees, who run 95% of the company’s restaurants in the U.S., were told last week that they would undergo a more rigorous review process every 20 years to maintain the ability to operate their restaurants, The Wall Street Journal reported. Some restaurant operators will also have to pay the company more money to continue running their locations. The changes are expected to begin going into effect in January, according to the Journal.
 

McDonald’s in April said total sales rose to $5.67 billion in the quarter ended March 31 from $5.1 billion in the prior-year period. Menu prices at its U.S. locations were up by an average of 8% in the first quarter from a year earlier, the company said.

Earlier this month, Mr. Borden told investors that McDonald’s is studying the impact of its restaurants’ price increases to make sure they aren’t too high for consumers. Franchisees have been raising prices to compensate for higher food costs.

“We have the approach that we want to do more frequent increases but at smaller levels,” he said.

Mr. Borden is a “logical choice” to succeed Mr. Ozan, analysts at financial-services firm Robert W. Baird & Co. said in a note to clients.

He is expected to focus on topics including allocating capital, growing new units and buying back stock, said Sara Senatore, a senior research analyst at Bank of America Corp.
 

High inflation, increased commodities prices and the tight labor market will also be top of mind for the incoming CFO, Ms. Senatore said. “There are just a lot of forces buffeting the restaurant industry,” she said. “This is more of an ordinary course of succession,” she said, referring to the changeover.

McDonald’s also said that its global chief supply-chain officer, Francesca DeBiase, is retiring. She will be succeeded by Marion Gross, effective Sept. 1. Chief Global Impact Officer Katie Fallon, the company’s first, is also leaving. Her successor hasn’t been named.

The leadership changes “will help accelerate our momentum,” McDonald’s Chief Executive Chris Kempczinski said Monday.