McDonald's Holdings Co (Japan) Ltd said it would hold a news conference to announce its annual earnings forecasts, which it withdrew in July after a food safety scare in China pummelled its sales. Facing tough competition from Japan's convenience stores, McDonald's Japan had been suffering from weak demand even before the food scandal, in which a major supplier of chicken meat was found to be in breach of safety standards. The food scare, which also affected other global food companies such as Yum Brands Inc, led to a 25 percent drop in McDonald's Japan's sales in August, the sharpest fall since the company became public in 2001. That was the seventh straight month of year-on-year sales declines. Before the withdrawal, The company, held 49.9 percent by McDonald's Corp, had forecast an operating profit of 11.7 billion yen ($107 million) and net profit of 6 billion yen for the year. McDonald's Japan halted all imports of chicken products from China in late July after the Chinese supplier, Shanghai Husi, was shut down for food safety breaches. (Reuters)