McDonald's says number of U.S. restaurants will shrink this year

By Anjali Athavaley

NEW YORK (Reuters) - McDonald's Corp said Thursday that it will have fewer restaurants in the United States in 2015 than it did last year.

A company spokeswoman, in an email, did not specify the extent of the U.S. restaurant downsizing but said: "The impact is minimal in comparison to the 14,000 restaurants we operate across the country."

In April, McDonald's announced 350 restaurant closings in the United States, China and Japan, in addition to the 350 closings it had planned globally. At the same time, the company said it planned to open 300 new restaurants globally in 2015.

Last month, CEO Steve Easterbrook said he would reorganize business units, sell restaurants to franchisees and cut costs in a bid to turn around the fast food chain.

(Reporting by Anjali Athavaley; Editing by David Gregorio)