Domino's Pizza UK reported a slowdown in sales growth to 2.3 per cent in the three months to the end of September, down from 5.2 per cent and 4.5 per cent in the preceding two quarters, as the boost from this summer's World Cup faded.
The London-listed company acknowledged it experienced "positive benefits" from the World Cup at the start of its third quarter, but this burst of football enthusiasm did not last long enough to replicate its earlier sales surge from the beginning of the year.
Sales and Order Growth Decline
The 2.3 per cent sales growth over the last three months falls short of the four per cent growth in the year to date, as reported by City AM. Order growth also dropped from 2.2 per cent to 1.5 per cent in the most recent quarter.
In August, the pizza chain had attributed its jump in revenue to £354m in the first half of the year to the World Cup and a favourable reception to its new fried-chicken-style range.
Chicken Range Performance
Despite the slowdown, Domino's noted that its 'chick'n'dip' range continues to perform strongly, adding that "customer feedback [is] highly positive and advocacy levels [are] strong".
The pizza chain's foray into chicken products has a mixed history. Last year, former chief executive Andrew Rennie left the business shortly after cautioning that British consumers were approaching 'peak pizza' and were increasingly seeking chicken alternatives.
CEO Confirms Full-Year Targets
Incoming chief executive Nicola Frampton has stated she is committed to steering Domino's into the fried chicken market in a "disciplined" way. "Chicken is a large adjacent category. We can enter it using our existing system rather than building a new one, and we can do that without significant additional capital investment," she said earlier this year.
Domino's confirmed on Wednesday that it remains on course to hit its earnings targets despite the slowdown in sales. Frampton told investors: "Our strong performance year-to-date reflects our organic growth strategy and we have been rewarded by our focus on the core Domino's business model.
"Whilst there is a lot of work still to be done, this gives us confidence in achieving our expectations for the full year, while building the foundations for further growth in 2027 and beyond."
Analysts at RBC Capital Markets described the pizza chain's update as "decent", though they added that they "wonder if the market would have hoped for a slightly stronger like-for-like print after the strong Q1 and Q2".
