(Sharecast News) - Domino's Pizza announced a £20m share buyback on Thursday as it reported record first-quarter sales and orders.

The company said system sales rose 5.6% to £386.6m, while total orders were up 2.8% to 18m. Meanwhile collection orders grew 23%.

Domino's grew its UK takeaway market share to 7.8% in Q1, up from 6.4% in the same period a year earlier, in a "challenging" market.

"Our trading in the first quarter was driven by our key areas of focus for FY23; giving customers' value for money through compelling national value campaigns and our franchise partners' focus on service; our digital acceleration, the continued incremental benefit of being on the Just Eat platform and new store openings," it said.

The company hailed an "encouraging" start to the second quarter, with like-for-like system sales up 10.9% and orders 5.9% higher in the first four weeks in a "challenging consumer and inflationary environment".

Domino's announced a new £20m share buyback with immediate effect, which it said was made possible by its "strong momentum, continued successful execution of the strategy, combined with confidence in the business".

Interim chief executive Elias Diaz Sese said: "Whilst this year has started well for Domino's, there continues to be uncertainty in the economic environment with household budgets likely to remain under increasing pressure.

"However, we continue to be excited about the many opportunities we see for Domino's in 2023 and beyond as we continue to work towards our purpose of delivering a better future through food people love."