Domino’s reports good start to the year despite slowdown in UK sales growth
Domino’s Pizza in the UK and Ireland has reported a “good start” to the financial year despite slowing UK sales growth.
Sales rose 9% to £144.2 million during the 13 weeks to 25 March driven by a combination of new store openings, a recovery in Ireland and like-for-like sales growth of 3.5% at its 600 stores.
The company said it was pleased to see the “return to positive territory” in the Republic of Ireland as like-for like sales in the country increased by 1.7% at the start of 2012 after a 10.5% fall in 2011. In the UK, however, like-for-like sales rose by just 3.6% compared to 5.5% in the previous year.
Domino’s total online sales grew by 44.5% to £59.3 million in the period of which 16.4% was taken via mobile devices. In a first for the company, over £1 million in sales were taken through its mobile platforms in a single week during the period. The company said e-commerce sales now account for 50.6% of UK delivered sales compared to 39.3% in 2011.
Never Miss a Retail Update!There were six new store openings in the period and Domino’s said it was “confident of achieving the target of 72 new stores during the full year”, 12 of which will open in Germany.
Lance Batchelor, chief executive officer, commented: “We are pleased with the group’s performance in the first quarter and, although they are just part of the growth story, it is good to see our like-for-like sales continue to increase.
“We may have a softer comparative for the second quarter of the year – but we will not be taking our foot off the accelerator. We have a number of marketing initiatives and other programmes aimed at ensuring our franchisees can profitably grow their businesses in the coming months. This, combined with a full pipeline of potential new sites, expansion in Germany, a strong management team in place and our ever improving operational gearing, makes me confident and optimistic about the months and years ahead.”
