DP Poland Plc (LON:DPP) has issued an ‘in line’ update for its underlying earnings (EBITDA) for 2018, adding that it was approaching 2019 “with caution”.
The firm, which operates the Domino’s Pizza franchise in Poland, said sales had grown “substantially” in the year-to-date, however like-for-like (LFL) sales growth had continued to see softening into the fourth quarter.
Warm and dry weather into November, as well as sustained advertising, spend by competing delivery aggregators, had also impacted the group’s share of voice and sales performance.
DP added that it had not replicated its investment in top-line sales support from the fourth quarter of 2017 into the same period of 2018 as it focused more on “balancing sales growth with enhanced store profitability”.
Despite the pressures, the company said 2018 EBITDA was expected to be “broadly in line with expectations”, however they approached the year ahead with caution as sales and EBITDA were expected to be impacted by competition for share of voice.
The firm will release a full year trading update on 29 January 2019.