Domino's Pizza: Dough on the rise as app boosts sales

Domino's Pizza said it predicts its full-year results will be better than expected after a rise in online transactions enhanced its third-quarter sales. Shares in the company rose more than 14% to a new high of 1016p in London on Wednesday morning (14 October).

UK sales saw a steep rise of 14.9% to £200m thanks in part to the use of the app, which Domino's claims has been downloaded more than 10 million times. Revenue via digital channels is 35% up on Q3 last year and more than 75% of delivered sales in the year to date have been online, with more than half of these orders placed through the app. Group sales increased to £214.5m.

Domino's has opened 12 new stores this quarter, and said it is on the right path to meet the year's target of 50, having already opened 33 in 2015. It attributes its success to a number of factors, but believes it has benefited from the ongoing sponsorship of Hollyoaks which has helped enhance the brand. The company also believes that sales were aided by poor weather during the summer of 2015.

David Wild, CEO of Domino's, said: "We are delighted by this performance as our UK business goes from strength to strength, reflecting the success of our strategic and marketing initiatives. It represents the eighth consecutive quarter of double-digit like-for-like sales growth as we continue to focus on delivering great food with great service, using our best-in-class digital platforms.

"Our international businesses also continue to show encouraging signs of improvement. We enter the final quarter of the year with good momentum, are confident of beating our previous expectations for the full year and remain excited about our longer-term growth prospects."