Domino’s Pizza to serve up stronger profits than expected

Domino’s Pizza has said profits are set to surpass predictions after it served up strong sales figures for the first half of 2023.

Shares in the pizza delivery chain rose by more than 8% in early trading on Tuesday as a result.

The London-listed business said it benefitted from store openings, demand for deals from customers and improved delivery times.

It saw group revenues jump by 19.6% over the six months to June 25, as it benefitted from 29 site openings.

Meanwhile, like-for-like system sales increased by 9.7% for the half-year, with an 8.2% rise in the latest quarter.

Domino’s added that trading momentum has been “encouraging” over the first three weeks of the current half-year, with a 7.9% like-for-like rise.

The group said continued positive demand means it is set to post an underlying core profit of between £132 million and £138 million for the year. Analysts had guided towards a profit of £127.6 million.

Elias Diaz Sese, interim chief executive officer, said: “We have delivered a strong first half of 2023 with continued growth in orders and sales.

“Thanks to our alignment with our brilliant franchise partners, we have been able to accelerate our progress on the strategic initiatives set out at the beginning of the year, with a significant acceleration in store openings, greater app penetration and material improvements in delivery times.

“Today’s results are testament to the hard work of our colleagues and franchise partners who have worked relentlessly to ensure nobody delivers like Domino’s.”

Andrew Rennie will take over permanently as chief executive officer of the business from next week.

Shares in the company were up 8.6% at 377.2p on Tuesday morning.