UPDATE 2-McDonald's CEO Kempczinski to assume role of board chairman

(Adds details and background in paragraphs 3-4 and 7-9)

March 19 (Reuters) - McDonald's CEO Chris Kempczinski will take on the additional role as chairman of the board, after the retirement of Enrique Hernandez, the fast-food chain said on Tuesday.

The retirement of Hernandez, who has been on McDonald's board for 28 years and was elected as the non-executive chairman in 2016, is effective as of the date of the company's 2024 annual shareholders' meeting.

McDonald's did not disclose the date of the meeting, but the company usually holds it in May every year.

Hernandez has served alongside eight CEOs at McDonald's. During his tenure, the company said it has more than doubled its restaurant count, including expanding into over 100 markets.

It also nominated Mike Hsu, chairman and CEO of Kimberly-Clark, as an independent director on the board.

Shares of McDonald's were up nearly 2%. The stock had gained 12.5% in 2023.

The announcements come at a time when McDonald's is planning to open about 10,000 restaurants globally by 2027, in what could be the company's fastest period of growth in its history. It also looks to double sales from its loyalty program to $45 billion and increase the user base to 250 million customers by 2027.

McDonald's, however, reported its first quarterly sales miss in nearly four years in February, due to weak sales growth at its international business division, partly due to the conflict in the Middle East.

The fast-food chain is also witnessing signs of a slowdown in its U.S. business, mainly as low-income consumers reduce order sizes or trade down to cheaper alternatives.

(Reporting by Ananya Mariam Rajesh in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar)