Domino’s Pizza delivers hot half year results as it opens 29 new stores
Domino’s Pizza Group has benefited from a bleak winter with UK and Ireland stuffed-crust lovers staying in and ordering cheesy slices, as the chain adds more stores around the country.
The pizza delivery company has reported a 19.6 per cent rise in revenue to £332.9m, up from £278.3m in the first half year ended 25 June 2023.
Total orders from the doughy favourite were up nearly three per cent 35.4m while sales also got a boost of around eight per cent to £766.4m, up from £710.5m in the same period last year.
Despite the positive earnings, shares cooled one per cent on Tuesday morning. They are up 18 per cent over the past month.
Commenting on the results, Elias Diaz Sese, interim boss said “thanks to our alignment with our brilliant franchise partners,” the chain has been able to experience a “significant acceleration in store openings, greater app penetration and material improvements in delivery times.”
Domino’s opened 29 new stores with 11 franchise partners in the first half of 2023, over doubling from the 12 stores it opened in the first half of last year.
The results come a couple weeks after Domino’s appointed a new top dog, Andrew Rennie.
“We are delighted to welcome Andrew Rennie as our new CEO, who brings extensive experience from across the Domino’s system,” said Sese.
He added: “While we continue to face a challenging and uncertain macroeconomic environment, we remain confident in the many opportunities we see for Domino’s in 2023 and beyond.”
“A 20% jump in Domino’s Pizza collection orders goes to show consumers are finding ways to save money and still get their favourite food treats,” said Laith Khalaf, head of investment analysis at AJ Bell, adding that Domino’s should take this as a win given the cost of living squeeze.
Khalaf said the appointment of a new boss comes at a good moment in time as “the business seems to be finding its feet again after a patchy few years.”
He explained: “Andrew Rennie brings considerable expertise from running Domino’s stores in other geographic territories. That implies stability rather than a radical new strategy – sometimes it is better to get the wheels turning smoothly rather than making them spin as fast as possible.”