Online and mobile sales growth boosts Domino's

Pizza delivery firm Domino's saw its like-for-like sales in the UK increase by 4.1% in the 13 weeks to 25 September 2011 thanks in part to strong growth in internet orders.

Online sales accounted for 46.6% of UK delivered sales during the period, up from 39.7% the year before.

Domino's said its new gourmet range had proved popular, as had the new stuffed crust, which it has introduced in response to rival Pizza Hut. The company has also seen a sales boost off the back of its sponsorship of ITV show Red or Black.

Trading in Ireland was tougher, with like-for-like sales there down 4.4%, compared with a 0.5% drop in the same period the year before.

Total system sales for both the UK and Ireland for the period were up by 9.8% to £127m (2010: £115.7m) with year to date system sales up by 9.2% to £385.4m (2010: £352.8m). Total online sales for the period rose by 36.4% to £45m (2010: £33m) and have reached £130m for the year to date (2010: £89.9m). Orders taken on mobile platforms, including the iPad for which Domino's has developed an app, now account for 13% of all e-commerce sales.

At the period end, Domino's had a total of 698 stores in the UK and Ireland (2010: 643) and four in Germany.

Meanwhile, chief executive Chris Moore will step down at the end of the financial year on 25 December 2011. He will be replaced by Lance Batchelor.

Moore said: "Lance has made excellent progress since he joined as deputy chief executive and, combined with the experience he gained as a non-executive director of the company, is ready to take the reins in three months time.

"We are pleased to have had a good quarter's trading and, although the economy as a whole is still very tough, we have got exciting plans in place for the rest of the year. We are on track and confident that we will finish the year in line with market expectations."

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By Neil Gerrard

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