Domino’s targets London expansion
Pizza takeaway chain Domino’s this morning reported a drop in profit for 2019 as it revealed a strategy to target further growth in London.
The figures
UK and Ireland sales increased 4.8 per cent to £1.21bn in the 52 weeks ended 29 December.
However like-for-like sales growth slipped to 3.7 per cent from 4.6 per cent the previous year.
Group underlying profit before tax – not including the discontinued international business – was £98.8m, a slump of 1.2 per cent due to higher interest charges.
Profit before tax plunged 93.6 per cent to £2.8m, including discontinued operations in Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and Iceland, which the company offloaded in October.
The disposal hit the company with overall impairment and restructuring charges of £35.4m.
Why it’s interesting
Dominos said today that the external environment “hasn’t been easy”, and that Brexit related uncertainty has continued.
The fast food firm said that the potential impact of coronavirus us “difficult to determine” but said it is monitoring the situation closely and has established a contingency plan.
During this year the company has plans to recruit a chair, chief executive and finance chief.
Going forward the pizza chain plans to ramp up its growth in London, as it is “currently underpenetrated there compared to the rest of the UK”.
The takeaway group operates 36 stores in the London area after opening three last year in Mill Hill, Bentford and Carshalton.
What Dominos said
David Wild, chief executive, said: “Our core UK & Ireland business continues to deliver a solid trading result, with UK like-for-like sales up 3.7 per cent. Our digital capabilities continue to fuel this growth, with online sales up 8.8 per cent. Collection also saw a good performance, up 5.3 per cent, and this remains a significant opportunity for us going forward.
“I would like to thank my colleagues across all our markets, together with our franchisee partners, for their continued hard work and passion for the Domino’s brand.
“In February we were pleased to announce a disposal of our Norwegian business which is subject to shareholder approval, and we expect this to complete by the end of May. We continue to prioritise transactions for our remaining International businesses, although expect that these may take some time as we ensure that we find the best owners for these businesses.”