US fast-food delivery company Domino's Pizza is forecasting "better than expected" 2013 profit margins for its operation in Ireland.
In 2012, the most recent full year figures available for Domino's Irish arm showed pre-tax profits of €2.4 million as well as sales of €21.1 million. Domino's employ around 200 people in Ireland.
Internationally, Domino's said that sales at its stores open for more than a year rose 10.9% in the 13 weeks to December 29, well ahead of analyst forecasts which ranged from 1-4%, taking underlying sales growth to 7% for the full year. In-depth figures for Ireland have not been released as of yet.
The figures for its UK system sales rose 15.6% to £170.4 million in the 13 weeks to December 29, from £147.4 million a year earlier. Like-for-like sales from its 670 mature UK stores were up 10.9%, compared with 4.5% growth from 613 mature stores a year earlier.
It said the growth was partly driven by increased digital marketing activity and a more favourable timing of the Christmas break compared with last year.
The growth meant UK system sales for the 52 weeks to December 29 were up 12.2% at £608.8 million from £542.8 million in the year-earlier period.
It said online sales continued to grow and accounted for 65.5% of UK delivered sales in the period, compared with 60.8% a year earlier. Mobile sales were up 91% on the year and accounted for 30.9% of all online sales.
