Domino's fails to get slice of Games action

Domino's Pizza did not see an expected surge in people ordering pizza while watching the Olympics at home, and posted a slowdown in sales growth in its third quarter, which dragged its shares down by 4 per cent yesterday to 540.5p.

But the pizza delivery company, with 770 stores in the UK, the Republic of Ireland, Switzerland and Germany, did report a spike in online and mobile phone orders.

Domino's UK like-for-like sales rose 3.7 per cent over the 13 weeks to 23 September, against a leap of 8.1 per cent in the previous quarter. Wayne Brown, an analyst at Canaccord Genuity, said it was "disappointing" and added: "The degree of the slowdown will come as a surprise."

Domino's fared far worse in the Republic of Ireland, where underlying sales fell by 2.1 per cent.

Total sales at the group rose by 7.9 per cent to £136.4m, boosted by new stores. Online now accounts for 58.4 per cent of UK delivered sales, with orders on mobiles representing 18.5 per cent of total internet sales. Its chief executive, Lance Batchelor, was "confident" Domino's will hit City forecasts of £46.6m profits this financial year.