Yahoo Finance Domino’s reports lockdown sales surge as it plans UK and Ireland expansion
Domino’s Pizza saw sales surge by nearly a fifth in the first quarter as locked-down Britons ordered in
(PA)Domino’s Pizza saw sales surge by nearly a fifth in the first quarter as locked-down Britons ordered in.
The UK arm of the pizza giant, which has more than 1,200 stores in its network, said it saw UK and Ireland system sales rise by 18.7% to £371.3 million in the 13 weeks to March 28.
Collections have slumped in the pandemic, currently at around 65% of the levels seen in 2019, but the group hailed the success of its delivery service, which saw orders rise by 6.8% in the period.
It comes after the group reported like-for-like sales up 11% in 2020, and an underlying pre-tax profit of £101.2 million, up £2.4 million on 2019.
Domino’s also recently announced plans to withdraw from wholly owned and directly operated international markets, and said on Thursday that it has agreed deals to sell businesses in Sweden and Iceland, which are set to complete by the end of May.
The company is focusing on its UK and Ireland business, with plans to create7,000 new jobs and open 200 stores.
Chief executive, Dominic Paul, said: “The investments we are making to deliver our multi-year strategic plan give us confidence in our ability to capitalise on the opportunities which lie ahead as the nation begins to emerge from the Covid-19 lockdown restrictions.”
Analysts at Peel Hunt noted that “management targets a full recovery in collection by year-end” and said there is “rising probability that the upgrade cycle will continue”.
Shares were down 1.5% in early trading on Thursday.
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