Return of live sport after lockdown pushes Domino’s sales to £342m
The return of televised live sport after lockdown saw Domino’s sell an extra 600,000 orders in the third quarter, pushing sales to £342.1m.
The pizza chain reported an 18.7 per cent jump in UK and Ireland sales for the 13 weeks ended 27 September, with orders also boosted by the increase in UK staycations over the summer.
Domino’s said the government’s decision to slash VAT from 20 per cent to five per cent had enabled savings to be passed onto customers, benefiting like-for-like growth.
The company also reopened more stores for collection during the period, with orders increased from 0.7m in the second quarter to 3.2m in the third quarter.
It sold 15.7m orders in the third quarter, up from 15.1m, although delivery numbers dropped from 14.4m to 12.4m compared to the previous three months.
Domino’s expects to report profit before tax of between £93m to £98m for the year, in line with market consensus.
Chief executive Dominic Paul said: “I am pleased to report a strong performance in Q3. Delivery orders were up 11.8 per cent and we also benefited from the reopening of our collection business.
“I am delighted by the agility the group and our franchisees have demonstrated in order to maintain our momentum. We welcome the UK government’s reduction to VAT in mid-July which helped franchisees mitigate costs and gave them the opportunity to pass savings on to customers.
“Working closely with our franchisees we continue to do everything we can to keep our people and customers safe, including wearing masks, the use of perspex screens, contact free delivery and collection and continued menu rationalisation.
“It is a privilege to stay open and serve our local communities, and we are confident that we have operational plans in place to adapt to different levels of lockdown that may arise in the coming months.”