Domino's Pizza has reported that its UK and Ireland operating profit rose 7.1% to £51.6 million during the six months that ended on June 30, 2019.
The company's group system sales rose 4.7% during the period, while its international system sales were down 3.4% and up 0.4% on a constant currency basis.
Domino's recorded an international operating loss of £6.4 million. This compares to a £1.8 million loss in the first half of 2018.
"Good Performance"
In a statement on the company's UK website, Domino's CEO David Wild, who has announced plans to retire, said, "Our core UK and Republic of Ireland markets delivered a good performance, with system sales up 5.5% and underlying operating profit up 7.1%. Digital remains a key driver of customer engagement, with online now accounting for 82% of total sales in the UK. Although a small part of our business, we are delivering pleasing operational improvements in our London corporate store estate.
"The relationship with our UK and Ireland franchisees is very important to the long-term sustainable growth of the system. We are actively involved in detailed discussions and are giving these considerable focus and attention. Whilst dialogue is continuing, new store openings are being delayed and some of our working practices are being impacted. The situation is complex, and we expect resolution will take some time, likely into 2020. We are committed to working with our franchisees to agree sustainable win-win solutions."
Challenging International Performance
Wild added, "The performance of our international business is very challenging and trading visibility remains limited. The weakest performance was in Norway, although we also saw increasing losses in Sweden and Switzerland. Iceland profitability was impacted by the weak macro-economic backdrop. We are very focussed on improving our operational capability across our international markets, and will provide a further update at our full year results."
© 2019 Hospitality Ireland – your source for the latest industry news. Article by Dave Simpson. Click subscribe to sign up for the Hospitality Ireland print edition.
