Domino’s Pizza Group PLC (LON:DOM) shares were in demand on Thursday as the pizza delivery group reported a near-6% rise in sales over summer despite the hot weather.
Restaurant chains up and down the UK have been queueing up to blame the heatwave, during which more people opted for a liquid lunch rather than anything more substantial.
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But Domino’s brushed off any fears that takeaway pizza sales would also wilt in the sun, reporting a 5.9% jump in group sales to £303.3mln in the quarter ended September 30 (Q3 17: £286.4mln).
Online sales in its core UK and Ireland business, which accounts for more than 90% of group revenue, jumped 11.4% and now make up 78% of total sales.
Excluding the impact of the 42 stores opened so far this year, the number of orders in the period actually fell 1.4% in the period, although that was more than offset by 3.6% rise in average spend.
“Our businesses continue to trade well, despite the evident uncertainty among UK consumers, and hot weather across Europe for much of the quarter,” said chief executive David Wild.
“With the opening of a further 20 stores in the UK this quarter, we are confident of reaching 60 stores for the year. In our international operations, we are making good progress on refining the operating model and cost base.”
£25mln share buyback
Despite an anticipated £6mln one-off hit from the consolidation of its Warrington and Penrith supply chain centres, Domino’s is guiding for full-year pre-tax profits to be around £96.3mln, in line with market forecasts.
The FTSE 250 group added that “given the strength of [its] balance sheet”, it has approved another £25mln of share buybacks which it will begin straight away.
Shares rose 6.1% to 276.6p early on Thursday, although they are still down by more than a fifth in the year-to-date.