Domino’s Pizza Group plc, the leading pizza delivery company with stores in the UK, Republic of Ireland, Germany and Switzerland, has announced its Interim Management Statement for the 13 week period to 23 September 2012.
Chief Executive’s view
Lance Batchelor, Chief Executive, commented:
“I am pleased to report that Q3 has been another period of growth for Domino’s. Our franchisees continue to show demonstrable enthusiasm and commitment to drive the business forward, even in a challenging economic climate. We continue to set ourselves ambitious targets but believe that a great product, supported by exemplary customer service and innovative marketing will deliver strong growth in the years to come.
“We approach the fourth quarter, traditionally our strongest trading period, with continued optimism and determination. We have exciting marketing initiatives in place across our markets and we are confident of meeting City consensus earnings for the full year.”
Sales
Sales for the period were up by 7.9% to £136.4m (2011: £127.0m), with year to date sales up by 10.0% to £424.1m (2011: £385.4m). Despite the challenging economic climate, like-for-like sales in the 660 mature stores in the UK and Republic of Ireland (2011: 605 mature stores) for the period continued to grow.
In the UK only, like-for-like sales for the period were up by 3.7% (2011: 4.1%), while the equivalent figure in Euros for the Republic of Ireland was down 2.1% (2011: down 4.1%). Year to date, UK like-for-like sales have risen by 5.1% (2011: 3.6%) and in the Republic of Ireland they are up by 1.2% in Euros (2011: down 5.6%).
Online sales rise 39%
Online sales also continue to increase, with e-commerce accounting for 58.4% of UK delivered sales (2011: 46.5%) in the 13 week period. Total online sales for the period rose by 39.3% to £62.8m (2011: £44.8m) and have reached £184.9m for the year to date (2011: £129.9m). Within this figure, mobile sales continue to rise sharply, up by 46.9%, and now account for 18.5% of total online sales.
Store openings
During the period, Domino’s opened 11 new stores in the UK, Republic of Ireland and Germany (2011: 15), taking the total opened so far this year to 34 (2011: 37). While we faced some planning challenges in the UK which slowed our opening of new stores in Q3, we remain on track to reach a target of 60 new stores in the UK and 12 in Germany by the end of the financial year.
At the period end, Domino’s had a total of 748 stores in the UK and Republic of Ireland (2011: 698) and 10 in Germany (2011: four).
Acquisition of Domino’s Switzerland
On 24 September 2012, we legally completed the acquisition of the business and assets of Domino’s Switzerland, adding 12 stores to the Group’s portfolio and the exclusive rights to develop the market in Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Luxembourg. At the same time, we obtained the option to acquire Austria as a franchise territory and this option runs until the end of 2014.
