Domino's profits to be at upper end

29th Sep 2010 07:19

Fast growing pizza delivery franchise operator Domino's Pizza has not been growing quite so fast in the last three months but still thinks it will deliver full year profits at the upper end of market expectations.In the 13 weeks to 26 September LFL sales were 9.9% higher than a year earlier, while in the year to date LFL sales were up 12.5% on a year earlier.To demonstrate the tough comparative figures the company was up against in the third quarter it said that in the corresponding 13-week period of 2009 the company saw a 10.8% year on year increase in LFL sales. The first nine months of 2009 saw an 8.3% increase in LFL sales year on year, so on a year to date (YTD) basis the company's growth is still faster than it was last year. System sales in the third quarter of 2010 were up by 17.9% to £115.7m from £98.1m a year earlier, while YTD system sales were up by 19.8% to £352.8m from £294.5m in 2009.Online sales accounted for 39.7% of UK delivered sales in the third quarter, up from 29.2% in the third quarter of 2009 and were 68.7% higher year on year at £33m. YTD, online sales are £89.6m, up from £54.5m a year earlier.During the period the company opened 16 new stores, bringing the total number of stores opened this year up to 35. The company now operates 643 outlets in the UK and Ireland."There are numerous sites in the pipeline and we are confident of reaching our target of 55 new stores by the year end," the company said.