New York - The global financial crisis didn't stop fast-food giant McDonald's from bringing in more customers, the company announced Monday as it released its fourth quarter and full year results for 2008.

Chief executive officer Jim Skinner said the average number of customers served per day increased to 58 million people in 2008.

For the quarter, the company posted profits of 985.3 million dollars on sales of 5.6 billion dollars. For the year, the company posted 4.3 billion dollars in profits on sales of
23.5 billion dollars.

That compares with profits of 2.3 billion dollars on 22.8 billion dollars of sales in 2007.

Skinner said the company plans to open 1,000 new restaurants in 2009. McDonald's currently has some 30,000 outlets in more than 100 countries. (dpa)