24th Apr 2008 07:01
Domino's Pizza UK & IRL PLC24 April 2008 24 April 2008 Domino's Pizza UK & IRL plc AGM STATEMENT Domino's Pizza UK & IRL plc (the "Company" or "Domino's"), the UK and Ireland'sleading pizza delivery company, will be holding its Annual General Meeting at1pm today. Stephen Hemsley, Executive Chairman, will make the following statement: "I am pleased to report a strong start to the year with system sales in the 16weeks to 20 April 2008 ahead 21.3% (2007: 24.0%) to £105.3m (2007: £86.8m). Inthe same 16 weeks, like-for-like sales in the 450 mature stores (2007: 404stores) were up 13.3% (2007: 14.6%). This growth was driven by our successfulproduct and marketing innovations and our continuing focus on improvingoperational standards, and in particular, improving the delivery times to ourcustomers. E-commerce has continued to show robust growth with an increase of 95.2% to£15.3m (2007: £7.8m) in the same 16 week period and now comprises 21% of all ourUK delivered sales. "We are very encouraged by the strong start to the year, but are mindful of thedemanding comparatives over the summer last year driven by the particularly poorweather. Nevertheless, our eight week sponsorship of Britain's Got Talent onITV1 has just commenced and early indications are that viewing figures areexceeding our expectations having attracted a peak audience of over 10 millionin the first week of the programme and over 11 million in the second week*. Afurther eight week sponsorship of America's Got Talent on ITV2 then follows onin the summer and our brand prominence during these shows should have a positiveimpact on our sales over this period. Prospects for 2008 remain goodnotwithstanding these demanding comparatives. "A total of 13 new stores have opened as of today's date (2007:14) and as aresult of having more sites in the pipeline with planning approval than at thesame time last year, we are confident, at this stage, that we are on track toreach our target of 50 store openings this year. On 19 February 2008, Domino's announced its intention to move to the OfficialList. This process has been proceeding well and is on track for completion on 19May 2008. As a result of our strong trading and on-track store openings for the full year,we anticipate results for the financial year to be ahead of current marketexpectations." - ends - * BARB (Broadcasters' Audience Research Board) overnight figures For further information: Domino's PizzaChris Moore - Chief Executive Officer 01908 580604Lee Ginsberg - Chief Financial Officer 01908 580611 Numis Securities Limited 020 7260 1000David Poutney, James Serjeant, Nick WestlakeAltium 020 7484 4040Ben Thorne Hogarth 020 7357 9477Fiona Noblet, Anthony Arthur 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 franchiseDomino's Pizza stores in the UK and Ireland. DPG is the leading player in the UKand Ireland's fast-growing pizza delivery market. The first UK store opened in1985 and the first Irish store opened in 1991. As at the 24 April 2008, there are 514 stores in the UK and Ireland. Of these,408 stores are in England, 39 are in Scotland, 19 are in Wales, 12 are inNorthern Ireland and 36 are in the Republic of Ireland. As part of a commitment to delivering more to the communities served by itsstores, Domino's Pizza Group Limited is proud to support Special Olympics GB andSpecial Olympics Ireland. Founded in 1960, the Domino's Pizza brand is the recognised world leader inpizza delivery. Through its primarily franchised system, Domino's Pizza operatesa global network of more than 8,000 stores in more than 50 countries. For photography visit www.dominos.uk.com/media or contact The HogarthPartnership Limited on 020 7357 9477. High resolution images are also availablefor the media to review and download free of charge from www.vismedia.co.uk This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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