Domino’s to treble spend on marketing
DOMINO’S Pizza yesterday forecast stronger sales growth in the second half of the year after reporting a 15 per cent rise in first-half profit.
The company, which runs the British and Irish franchises of the global delivery brand, is planning to treble marketing spend in the second half compared with the same period last year, to back up the launch of a gourmet pizza range.
It is also sponsoring a new Simon Cowell-backed TV show, Red or Black, that will offer contestants a £1m jackpot. This follows its expired sponsorship of Britain’s Got Talent.
The company said sales at its 607 shops open more than a year rose by 2.4 per cent in the 26 weeks to June 26, against 4.2 per cent rise in the first quarter.
It made pre-tax profit of £20.1m, compared with £17.5m the year before.
Finance director Lee Ginsberg said he was confident sales growth would improve in the second half.
“While we don’t give the market numbers for July, it’s quite pleasing to see how well we’ve started this half,” he said.
“We’ve got some great product launches coming. We’re going to sponsor Red or Black in September. We’ve got a lot in the bag and that gives us confidence.”
He said he was “very comfortable” with analyst forecasts for comparable sales growth of three to four per cent in the second half.