Domino's gives pizza fans an update and promises further discounts

Domino's has announced that it will offer its customers better discount offers following a decline in orders in the first half of 2024. The pizza delivery company attributed the slump to a “slow start” to the year, which led to a drop in share price.

The company also warned that underlying profits are likely to be at the “lower end” of forecasts. Despite this, Domino's remains optimistic about a recovery in customer confidence and aims to boost sales through better prices. The company, which operates 1,344 stores in the UK and Ireland, saw a fall in food and energy costs, although these were partially offset by an increase in the national living wage.

Domino's CEO Andrew Rennie confirmed that the company is passing on the reduced food prices to customers in the form of discounts. He said: “Customer confidence is increasing but we think it's certainly important for us to support our customers at the moment.”

He added that they will be introducing more offers, such as their £4 lunch deal and a 50 per cent off midweek offer. The company said it believes these offers, combined with the quality of their products, offer good value for money. However, Domino's reported a 1.8 per cent fall in group sales to £326.8 million for the six months to June 30, compared with the same period last year.

This was partly due to a 0.9% decline in total orders to 35.1 million, particularly in the first quarter of the year. Mr Rennie said: “After a slow start to the year, we now have good momentum in the business, our strategic initiatives are gaining momentum and our trading performance is accelerating steadily against last year's strong comparables.”

“In the second quarter, we were able to increase orders, with a significant improvement from mid-May. And importantly, we stopped the trend of declining delivery orders.” He further noted that the positive trading momentum continued in June and July, supported by “good” sales during the men's European Football Championship 2024.

Domino's growth has also been helped by ongoing plans to open new stores. Last year, the company opened around 60 new stores and is set to surpass that number this year. A further 70 stores are expected to open. However, Domino's Pizza Group shares fell 8% to 284 pence.