AIM-listed Domino's Pizza UK & IRL plc (the 'Company' or 'Domino's'), the UK and Ireland's leading pizza delivery company, will be holding its Annual General Meeting at 1pm today.
Stephen Hemsley, Chief Executive, will make the following statement:
'I am pleased to report a strong start to the year with system sales in the first 16 weeks to 23 April 2006 ahead 18.9% (2005: 19.4%) to £70.0m (2005: £58.9m). In the same 16 weeks, like-for-like sales in the 357 mature stores (2005: 317 stores) were up 8.8% (2005: 7.9%). This growth was driven by successful marketing campaigns which were supported by additional contributions from our franchisees to the National Advertising Fund.
'Whilst we are encouraged by the good start to 2006 and look forward to the positive impact from this year's World Cup, we are also mindful of the high sales levels reached in previous years during the second half of the year. As a result, we anticipate that like-for-like sales growth in the second half will be more modest than the increases achieved year-to-date.
'A total of 12 new stores were opened in the period (2005: 13) which keeps us on track to reach our target of 50 store openings this year. We remain confident that expectations for the year will be fully met.
'As of today, there are 419 Domino's Pizza stores open and trading in the UK and Ireland and the market continues to offer strong growth opportunities with the potential for up to 1,000 in these territories. We will continue to focus exclusively on developing the Domino's Pizza brand in these markets.'
For further information, please contact:
Domino's Pizza UK & IRL plc
Stephen Hemsley
0044 1908 580604
Lee Ginsberg, Finance Director
00 44 1908 580611
Bernadette Ahmed, PR Controller
00 44 1908 580693/00 44 7909 928016
Hogarth Partnership Limited
Chris Matthews
Andrew Jaques
Anthony Arthur
020 7357 9477
Notes to Editors:
Domino's Pizza UK & IRL plc is the parent company of Domino's Pizza Group Ltd ('DPG') which holds the exclusive master franchise to own, operate and franchise Domino's Pizza stores in the UK and Ireland. DPG is the leading player in the UK and Ireland's fast-growing pizza delivery market. The first UK store opened in 1985 and the first Irish store opened in 1991.
There are 419 stores in the UK and Ireland. Of these, 339 stores are in England, 30 are in Scotland, 13 are in Wales, 11 are in Northern Ireland and 26 are in the Republic of Ireland.
Founded in 1960, Domino's Pizza is the recognised world leader in pizza delivery. Through its primarily franchised system, Domino's Pizza operates a global network of more than 8,000 stores in more than 50 countries.
For photography visit www.dominos.uk.com or contact The Hogarth Partnership Limited on 020 7357 9477. High resolution images are also available for the media to review and download free of charge from www.vismedia.co.uk