Published by Zeb BhamMajor US multinationals are facing profitability threats from the continued rise of the dollar against other major currencies.Among the companies to recognise this threat is McDonald's, which has warned investors that around 70 per cent of its non-US income is denominated in currencies which have lost ground against the dollar in foreign exchange trading this year, such as the pound, euro and Canadian dollar.Speaking to the Financial Times, Matthew DiFrisco, a restaurant analyst at Oppenheimer, said that this pressure will "definitely affect earnings" for other US companies in the industry.While McDonald's declined to speak to the paper, Coca Cola said it has an active forex hedging strategy in place to counter sharp currency fluctuations. It claimed it has effectively secured an EUR/USD exchange rate of $1.40 for the remainder of the year. The single currency is currently selling for $1.22, while analyst groups such as Tokyo Tokai have warned that the euro will fall further by the end of the year, potentially to $1.17.For more information on international payments, visit our Smart FX site