Domino's Pizza Group Plc has issued a trading update for Ireland and the UK.
According to the group, trading in Ireland and the UK in January, February and the first two weeks of March was in line with expectations.
Domino's said that UK like-for-like sales ex splits growth over this period was broadly similar to the run rate seen in Q4, at just over 3%, driven by order count.
The group revealed that UK trading accelerated during the last week of March, with the growth in delivery more than offsetting the lack of collection sales.
Domino's said that this like-for-like sales growth has been driven by growth in items per order and, therefore, higher overall ticket, arising from both a shift from collection to delivery and a change in consumer purchasing behaviour.
Domino's stated that it has taken the following actions in its UK & Ireland business:
- it has moved to entirely contact free delivery and stopped in-store collection orders to further protect colleagues and customers;
- it has rolled out a number of measures to protect its supply chain centres, its distribution network and its supply chain centre colleagues, and has seen minimal disruption to date;
- it is working closely with its franchisee partners to ensure store operations continue and store colleagues are working in a safe environment;
- and it is recruiting additional delivery drivers to ensure that it can meet higher demand levels and provide employment opportunities during this period of uncertainty.
Domino's said that the announced business rates freeze and the VAT payments deferral will benefit its franchisee partners and its corporate store network, and that its board is assessing other measures to support franchisees as required.
Dividend
Domino's said that its board has already overseen actions taken on costs and capital spending, and continues to carefully assess all remaining essential spending in order to protect the group's liquidity. Domino's added that although its performance and liquidity position remain strong, given the volatility of delivery sales and with an uncertain outlook, it is taking a cautious and prudent approach, and therefore its board has decided to suspend the final dividend payment of 5.56p that was announced as part of the group's full year results on March 5, 2020. The board will keep this matter under review in the coming months.
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