10th Jan 2005 07:00
Domino's Pizza UK & IRL PLC10 January 2005 For Immediate Release 10 January 2005 Domino's Pizza UK & IRL plc Trading Update Pizza Delivery Leader Announces Christmas Sales Boost Domino's Pizza UK & IRL plc ("the Company" or "Domino's") today announces thatlike-for-like sales have increased by 13.2% for the six weeks to 2 January 2005(2003: 5.1%). The strong second half like-for-like sales performance of 8.2%,against 4.9% for the first half, has resulted in the Company achievinglike-for-like sales growth of 6.6% for the full year ended 2 January 2005 (2003:7.4%). Average weekly unit sales hit a new record in the six week period driven by thecompany's most successful new product launch, a two layer pizza called DoubleDecadence. The launch was supported by an aggressive marketing campaign thatincluded the company's first celebrity-led TV advertisement, starring Naked Gunstar Leslie Nielsen. The Company's e-commerce platforms also continued toperform well and generated record sales of £1.2m in the six week period. This isa 61.9% growth on the corresponding period last year and now represents 5.9% oftotal system sales. In line with guidance issued at the half year, the Company opened 40 new storesin 2004 (2003: 50), bringing the year-end store count to 357. Preliminary results for the year ended 2 January 2005 will be announced onMonday 28th February 2005. Stephen Hemsley, Chief Executive of Domino's Pizza, commented, "I am verypleased that we have successfully continued our aggressive expansion programmewhilst also delivering robust system sales increases. The latter part of theyear, including the launch of Double Decadence, resulted in strong like-for-likesales growth. In view of this performance, I am confident that we will deliverfull year results in line with market expectations." ENDS For further information, please contact:Lee Ginsberg, Finance Director, on 44 (0) 1908 580611Bernadette Ahmed, PR & Communications Controller, on 44 (0) 7909 928016or Isabel Podda, Buchanan Communications, on 44 (0) 20 7466 5000. Notes to Editors: Domino's Pizza UK & IRL plc is quoted on the Alternative Investment Market ofthe London Stock Exchange (symbol: DOM). Its subsidiary, Domino's Pizza GroupLimited, is the UK and Ireland leader in pizza delivery and holds the exclusivemaster franchise to own, operate and franchise Domino's Pizza stores in thesemarkets. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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