Dominos Regulatory News (DOM)

LEI: 213800Q6ZKHAOV48JL75 

26 April 2018

Q1 Trading Statement

Encouraging start to the year

Highlights

· Group system sales up 18.3%: broad-based growth

· UK system sales up 10.6% and UK LFL sales up 7.0%

· 1,203 stores group-wide; 11 new stores opened in Q1, including nine in the UK

· 541 stores live with GPS

· £21.1m of share buybacks completed in Q1

David Wild, Chief Executive Officer, said:

"The year has started well, with continued good growth in all of our markets. In the UK, customers are responding very positively to our clearer value proposition, with strong scores for value for money and overall satisfaction. We have also made excellent operational progress, with the rapid roll-out of GPS continuing. I am encouraged by our international operations, which are gaining scale as more customers grow to love our great tasting pizzas."

1 Organic growth represents year-on-year performance on a constant currency basis and excluding the impact of acquisitions or disposals.

UK & ROI

UK and ROI system sales were up 10.4% in the quarter. In the UK, system sales rose 10.6%, with new store openings and like-for-like performance both contributing strongly. Like-for-like sales growth, excluding stores in split territories, was 7.0%, driven by strong like-for-like order growth of 6.7%. The negative impact of the severe weather experienced in March was offset by a strong New Year performance and the timing of Easter.

UK online sales were up 16.2% year-on-year, representing 78.9% of system sales in Q1 as customers increasingly choose to engage with us over our range of digital platforms. Our GPS tool is now live in 541 stores, generating valuable labour efficiencies for franchisees and an improved customer experience. We have also completed our new supply chain centre in Warrington.

We opened nine stores in the UK during Q1, reflecting the significant number of new openings in Q4 of 2017 which pulled forward the Q1 pipeline. By the period end we were trading from 1,054 outlets. We continue to expect to open 65-75 UK stores during 2018.

ROI system sales were up 5.2% on a constant currency basis. Like-for-like sales, excluding stores in split territories, grew 3.5%. The slower growth in part reflected the impact of the severe weather seen in March.

International

Switzerland achieved constant currency system sales growth of 17.6%, with like-for-like growth of 12.0% driven by successful promotions and strong online momentum.

In Iceland, constant currency system sales were up 5.5%, with like-for-like growth of 2.0%. In January 2018, we completed the acquisition of a further 44.3% stake in the business.

In Norway, the conversion of Dolly Dimple's stores continues and at the period end, we were trading from 33 Domino's-branded outlets. Pro forma system sales from the Domino's chain were up 181.4%, with like-for-like growth of 10.3% demonstrating the strong response to the brand in the market. In Sweden, constant currency system sales in our six stores were up 55.7%.

In Germany, we completed the acquisition of Hallo Pizza and the integration process has begun.

Next results

We will announce our Interim Results for the 26 weeks to 1 July 2018 on 7 August 2018.

For further information, please contact:

For Domino's Pizza Group plc:

Peregrine Riviere07909 907193

Maitland:Clinton Manning

020 7395 0473 or 07711 972662

Sam Cartwright020 7395 0415 or 07827 254561

About Domino's Pizza Group

Domino's Pizza Group plc is the UK's leading pizza brand and a major player in the Irish market. We hold the master franchise agreement to own, operate and franchise Domino's stores in the UK, the Republic of Ireland, Switzerland, Luxembourg and Liechtenstein. In addition, we have a controlling stake in the holders of the Domino's master franchise agreements in Iceland, Norway and Sweden, as well as an associate investment in Germany. As at 1 April 2018, we had 1,203 stores across six markets, including 1,054 stores in the UK.