Plenty of volume today consolidating. :0)

Trading Statement in the morning.

Q3 Highlights

Group system sales up 20.8%: broad-based uplift
UK system sales up 11.6% and UK LFL sales growth up 8.1%
Acceleration in digital: UK online sales up 17.4%
1,149 stores groupwide; 19 new stores opened in the period, including 1,000th UK store
Strong operational and commercial progress in international markets, as we convert the Dolly Dimples stores and enjoy the benefits of majority ownership
London franchisee joint venture creates a platform for faster growth and innovation testing
£15m buyback announced in addition to £20m of share purchases completed in H1
David Wild, Chief Executive Officer, said:

“We are pleased with our performance in Q3, especially the improved trend in our core market of the UK. Additionally we are making progress in all our overseas operations. In Ireland and Switzerland, our online initiatives are fuelling accelerated growth, and in Norway the first Dolly Dimple’s conversions are trading very well.

“In the UK, consumers are uncertain and they continue to focus on value. Our commitment to growth remains undiminished, as does that of our franchisee partners. We expect to launch a record 90 stores in the UK this year, with an encouraging pipeline already in place for openings in early 2018. More recently, we have seen a real surge in digital engagement, with our new advertising campaign, “The Official Food of Everything”, driving a record 200,000 online orders - or 140 a minute - on the last Saturday in September. The Board reaffirms that its forecasts for full year underlying profit before tax remain at least in line with market expectations.”

Luvvly Jubbly

Some spike, out the spreads 332p.:0)

i also banked a very nice 20p profit

LATEST BROKER VIEWS

Date Broker New target Recomm.
10 Oct Numis 397.00 Buy
10 Oct Liberum Capital 250.00 Sell
10 Oct Peel Hunt 400.00 Buy
4 Oct Numis 392.00 Buy
4 Oct Peel Hunt 400.00 Buy
20 Sep Peel Hunt 400.00 Buy
30 Aug Liberum Capital 250.00 Sell
16 Aug Peel Hunt 400.00 Buy
11 Aug Numis 392.00 Buy
11 Aug Peel Hunt 400.00 Buy

got out far too early but never mind

Profit is a profit cynic!

exactly that ..... i wonder if i would have sold had the shares been in my sipp ...... probably not

No matter what you think of the product. These are cheap.

Still 'considerable' upside for Domino's Pizza shares?
By David Brenchley | Tue, 10th October 2017 - 13:54

We've already seen what happens when hedge funds call their high-conviction short positions correctly – they make lots of money, as they did with Carillion (CLLN) earlier this year.

Domino's Pizza (DOM) is another heavily shorted stock – around 15% of its shares are out on loan. But those pessimistic investors will have to be more patient this time around, after a strong share price performance from the takeaway pizza franchise.

It looked to be going well for the hedgies, as the company saw a third of its valuation wiped out in the six months since March's final results. But that tide looks to have firmly reversed.

Up to Monday's close, Domino's shares had risen 10% since the 20 September announcement of a £15 million share buyback to add to the already purchased £20 million of shares in the first half.

And, after a reassuring third-quarter update Tuesday, the stock surged a further 15% to a seven-month high of 347p. Still, it remains 12% below March's 394p.

The key takeaway was strong core UK trading. Like-for-like sales grew by 8.1%. That's a 200 basis-point improvement from the same period last year, and broker Credit Suisse tells us it's materially above its estimate of 2%.

That said, Liberum reckons the "real number" is 6% when you include the negative impact of area splits – where Domino's awards more than one franchise in any one area.

Elsewhere, it saw better UK/Republic of Ireland organic sales growth of 12.1% and strong international organic sales growth of 25%. Store openings in the full-year are still on course to come in at 90, with 58 opened year-to-date.

Chief executive David Wild says he is pleased with the "improved trend" in the UK, where "consumers are uncertain and they continue to focus on value". "Forecasts for full-year underlying profit before tax remain at least in line with market expectations" of around £90 million, Wild added.

While the size of short positions may suggest caution on the outlook for Domino's, brokers are split on prospects. Liberum points out that "this is just one quarter and we would urge that a cautious stance should be maintained".

Risks abound, says analyst Wayne Brown. He first points out Domino's Q3 benefited from lower-than-average temperatures and higher-than-average rainfall in the UK, meaning consumers were more likely to stay in rather than eat out.

"We remain concerned that pressures are continuing to rise on franchisees where new stores are being opened in areas with fewer address counts, their margins remain under pressure and it is only a matter of time, in our view, that their appetite to open new stores will decline," he adds. This will lead to meaningful earnings pressure for Domino's as a group.

While both Liberum and Investec have 'sell' recommendations on the stock and target prices of 250p and 242p respectively, others are bullish. Numis has a target of 397p, which implies upside of 14%. "Domino's remains a key pick as a high return on capital employed, cash generative business in a structural, growing segment," explains analyst Richard Stuber.

Peel Hunt wants £4, but for different reasons. It notes that despite shares surging 15% in two weeks, the stock on loan position has only reduced from 15% to 14%. "Thus," says Douglas Jack, "if LFL sales start to accelerate and the buy-back has to compete with short covering on the equivalent of 15% of the equity base, then the upward squeeze on the share price could be considerable."

That may be the case, but a 2018 forward earnings multiple of around 22 times is not cheap, especially if sales fall in an increasingly competitive market (see second chart above).

This article is for information and discussion purposes only and does not form a recommendation to invest or otherwise. The value of an investment may fall. The investments referred to in this article may not be suitable for all investors, and if in doubt, an investor should seek advice from a qualified investment adviser.

StockMarketWire.com
Domino's Pizza's German joint venture Daytona is to acquire Hallo Pizza GmbH for €32m.

Domino's Pizza Group owns a one-third stake in Daytona JV Limited which operates the Domino's master franchise in Germany.

Hallo Pizza is the largest independent pizza chain in Germany with a national footprint of 170 franchise stores.

Hallo Pizza generated network sales of €80.2 million and normalised EBITDA of €3.5 million for FY162.

Domino's Pizza said the acquisition would strengthen the German JV's market leading position and increase the store count in Germany from 209 to approximately 300-340 following brand conversions, accelerating progress towards its 1,000 store target.

It said the transaction was expected to improve the profitability of former Hallo Pizza stores and existing Domino's stores for both franchisor and franchisees as stores are converted to Domino's and national advertising campaigns, social media initiatives and IT innovations are leveraged over the larger store network

StockMarketWire.com
Domino's Pizza Group has completed its acquisition of a further 44.3% interest in Pizza Pizza ehf ('Domino's Iceland').

StockMarketWire.com
Domino's Pizza's group system sales rose by 18.2% to £321.8m in the fourth quarter with UK system sales up 9.8% and UK like-for-like sales up 6.1%.

UK & ROI system sales were up 10.1% in the quarter, or 9.9% excluding currency effects.

The upbeat performance in the UK was driven by solid acceleration in digital business, as online sales rose 14.5% year-on-year, representing 77% of system sales in the fourth quarter.

UK system sales rose 9.8%, with new store openings and like-for-like performance both contributing strongly, while like-for-like sales growth, excluding stores in split territories, was 6.1%, driven by strong order growth.

The company said it opened 37 stores in the UK during the fourth quarter, taking the total for 2017 to a record 95, with total outlets rising to 1,045 outlets by the period end.

ROI system sales were up 12.0% on a constant currency basis. Like-for-like sales grew 10.4% as a further new store was opened in the fourth quarter, taking the total to 49.

The company said 'Q4 performance has been ahead of our expectations and we have offset some of our margin investment with good volume growth.'

'As a result we now expect full year underlying profit before tax to be slightly above the current range of market expectations.'

'We expect capex for the 2017 year to be between £45 million and £50 million, below the previously guided range of £50 million to £60 million, mainly as a result of phasing in relation to the Warrington supply chain centre.'

Peel Hunt today reaffirms its buy investment rating on Domino's Pizza Group PLC (LON:DOM) and raised its price target to 425p (from 400p).

Liberum Capital today reaffirms its sell investment rating on Domino's Pizza Group PLC (LON:DOM) and raised its price target to 280p (from 250p)

StockMarketWire.com
Dominos reported an upbeat start to the year as sales grew in the first quarter, led by strong UK performance.

Group system sales rose 18.3% to £311.1m from £236.0m the same period a year ago supported by strong sales growth in the UK and Republic of Ireland of 10.4%.

In the UK, system sales rose 10.6%, buoyed by new store openings and upbeat like-for-like performance sales growth of 7% amid strong like-for-like order growth of 6.7%.

ROI system sales were up 5.2% on a constant currency basis. Like-for-like sales growth was slower at 3.5% impacted by adverse weather.

The firm said it opened 11 new stores in Q1, including nine in the UK as it pushes ahead with plans to open 65 to 75 UK stores during 2018.

Dominos said 541 stores were equipped with live GPS.

International sales rose 17.6%.

Dominos completed £21.1m of share buybacks in Q1.

'In the UK, customers are responding very positively to our clearer value proposition, with strong scores for value for money and overall satisfaction,' sad David Wild, Chief Executive Officer.

'We have also made excellent operational progress, with the rapid roll-out of GPS continuing. I am encouraged by our international operations, which are gaining scale as more customers grow to love our great tasting pizzas.'

Pizza Tax coming soon :)

Tagged on to the Sugar one thats just been implemented.

Liberum Capital today reaffirms its sell investment rating on Domino's Pizza Group PLC (LON:DOM) and cut its price target to 250p (from 280p)

"Why Domino’s Pizza Group cannot hold onto their Finance Directors is a very good and valid question. Since the departure of Lee Ginsberg, who was a long standing and highly recognised FD, the group has churned through three since 2015 and with the announcement today that Rachel Osborne has handed in her resignation effective 11 June 2018, the group are on to their fourth. We question whether there is an internal cultural issue, whether she cannot see a path to maximising her remuneration scheme or other issues? Whatever the answer is, it does not look good and begs corporate governance questions. In a year when the CEO’s LTIPS vest we would like to see a more detailed analysis of the EPS support provided by share buybacks, M&A and underlying performance and on what basis and why the LTIPS are calculated.

Our concerns on the sustainability of the model remain where area splits are unsustainable in our view (c.11 year paybacks for franchisees). In a drive to higher earnings the group is buying back shares at 25x PE which we ask if that is really in the interests of shareholders - we know it is LTIP supportive in the current year. From an M&A perspective we think the Plc is likely to make more acquisitions be it franchisees in the UK but could more likely in Ireland and these could be in a JV form so as to retain current management teams. These kind of deals would not necessarily change our recommendation but the price paid should also provide an indicative payback period that shareholders should expect from such investment - are these in line with what they expect the franchisees to bear? No long term targets have been given on any of the Group’s new markets, deals or M&A and we ask how it can be in shareholders’ interests to be buying back shares at current levels. Considering today’s shock announcement highlights that all is not good internally. While the share performance has clearly gone against our SELL, we retain this."

Down over 5% today on that resignation but the 4th FD to go at DOM over the years so not new, this is just previous news repeated.

The question is how long in the past has it taken for the DOM Price to recover...long term holders please advise.

PS. Do you still hold Jennifer?