Domino’s delivers ‘solid’ performance

Domino’s has hailed a “solid” performance as it released a Q3 trading update for the 13 weeks to 29 September 2019.

UK sales were up 3.9% from £277.3m to £288.2m, while group sales were up 3.4% from £303.3m to £313.5m.

It opened 12 stores in UK & ROI in Q3, while online sales were up 7.2% in the UK and ROI online sales up 9.9%. It said online orders now account for 90.9% of delivery sales.

Domino’s also said the hiring process for a new CEO continues and the process for the new chair, led by Ian Bull, has begun and recruiters have been appointed. Domino’s wants both appointments to be made as quickly as possible.

Domino’s CEO David Wild said: “We delivered a solid performance in our core UK and Ireland markets, with system sales up 3.9%, against a market backdrop that remains challenging. Normal working practices continue to be impacted by our franchisee dispute. As we said at our interim results, this situation is complex and we expect a resolution to take time, certainly into 2020. We remain committed to working with our franchisees to agree sustainable win-win solutions.

“We are investing in people and processes to enable us to better support our franchisees. A key hire for our business is Emily Somers, who joined us as chief marketing officer in August, and I am delighted to have her as part of the team.

“Although the financial results have stabilised, the performance of our international business remains disappointing. Over the past six weeks we have completed a review with external consultants, assessing each of our four international markets and the future prospects for our businesses. We have concluded that, whilst they represent attractive markets, we are not the best owners of these businesses. The Board has therefore decided to exit the markets in an orderly manner.”