Jan. 17 (Bloomberg) -- McDonald's Corp., the world's largest restaurant company, posted fourth-quarter profit that exceeded analysts' estimates on higher sales of chicken snack wraps and a gain from its spinoff of Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. The shares hit a new seven-year high.

Preliminary net income doubled to $1 a share from 48 cents a year earlier, Oak Brook, Illinois-based McDonald's said today in a statement. Global sales at stores open at least 13 months expanded 7.2 percent in December, also ahead of analysts' projections.

Demand for the $1.29 chicken wrap and a stronger coffee blend spurred U.S. growth. McDonald's lifted European sales for the 11th consecutive month with a new bacon cheeseburger in the U.K. and a Monopoly game in Germany that offered cars and burgers as prizes.

``Europe is seeing the benefit of new products and other steps that have driven sales in the U.S.,'' said Janna Sampson, who helps manage $1.1 billion including 653,000 McDonald's shares at Oakbrook Investments LLC in Lisle, Illinois.

U.S. same-store sales rose 6.9 percent in December, while European sales climbed 8.2 percent

Excluding the 39-cent-a-share gain from the Chipotle spinoff, McDonald's earned 61 cents. Analysts surveyed by Bloomberg were estimating 58 cents on average.

Shares of McDonald's rose 29 cents to $44.86 at 4 p.m. in composite trading on the New York Stock Exchange, the highest level since December 1999. They climbed 31 percent last year, the largest gain in three years.

McDonald's will report complete fourth-quarter and full- year results Jan. 24.

Analysts' Estimates

Global comparable sales growth in December more than doubled the estimate of 3.5 percent by John Glass, a CIBC World Markets Corp. analyst based in Boston. Glass, who has a ``sector outperform'' rating on the company's shares, expected increases of 4 percent both in the U.S. and Europe.

McDonald's completed a tax-free share swap with its shareholders in October for its remaining stake in Denver-based Chipotle, a fast-growing burrito chain, after first selling shares to the public a year ago.

About 18.6 million McDonald's shares were exchanged for the company's remaining stake of 16.5 million Chipotle shares, valued at $947 million as of Oct. 12 and more than double what they were when Chipotle went public in January 2006.

The split was made so McDonald's might focus on improving profit at its more than 32.000 restaurants worldwide, while freeing Chipotle to pursue U.S. expansion.

Asset Sales?

McDonald's is considering other asset sales as well. Mark Andres, CEO of Golden, Colorado-based Boston Market, told employees Jan. 11 that McDonald's may sell the restaurant chain this year.

McDonald's plan to sell 2,300 restaurants to independent operators known as developmental licensees may include a decision this month to sell its Latin America stores, Buckingham Research Group analyst Mark Kalinowski wrote in a Jan. 4 note to investors.

Company spokeswoman Tara McLaren Handy said in an interview today ``the developmental licensee process is ongoing'' and declined to comment on the possible transaction.

McDonald's is averaging 4 million more customers a day than it did in 2002, Skinner, 62, told analysts in November. The company extended hours and renovated restaurants while drawing consumers with higher-priced chicken sandwiches and meal-sized salads aimed at moms who don't want fatty burgers and French fries.

Asian Results

Comparable sales in the region that encompasses Asia, the Pacific, Middle East and Africa rose 4.8 percent for the month, helped by results in Japan and Australia.

For the year, same-store sales worldwide climbed 5.7 percent compared with 3.9 percent in 2005. Europe had the strongest sales gain, climbing 5.8 percent in 2006 from 2.6 percent a year earlier.

McDonald's said Jan. 8 its U.K. restaurants will start selling coffee from farms certified by the Rainforest Alliance, a New York-based nonprofit organization that advocates environmentally friendly farming.

The step is the latest by McDonald's to burnish its image in Europe. Denis Hennequin, who took charge as European president in June 2005, opened restaurants to public tours to ease nutritional concerns. He also increased offerings of local foods, such as pasta salads in Italy.

`Burger Joint'

``McDonald's is no longer just a `burger joint,'' Jack Russo, an analyst with A.G. Edwards & Sons Inc. in St. Louis wrote today in an investors note. The company generates annual U.S. sales of $5 billion from chicken, roughly equal to its burger sales, he said.

The chain is testing lattes and flavored ice coffees in some U.S. markets after debuting the stronger coffee blend last February to boost breakfast sales, Russo said. He rates the shares as ``buy.''

To contact the reporter on this story: Chris Burritt in Greensboro, North Carolina at cburritt@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: January 17, 2007 16:07 EST