Domino's Pizza beats expectations

The company, which operates the British and Irish franchises of the global home delivery brand, said pre-tax profit for the year to December 27 increased by 27.8 per cent to 29.9m.

Market expectations had ranged between 29.3m and 29.6m, with the consensus at 29.5m.

Domino's, which has 608 stores in Britain and Ireland, said, because of increased demand from franchisees for more sites to be made available, it had accelerated its store opening plans to 55 new stores each year from 50 at present.

The company said it had made an exceptional start to 2010, with like-for-like sales up 11 per cent in the first six weeks despite January's heavy snow proving a "mixed blessing."

"While encouraging people to stay at home, which is good for our business, the extent and severity of the conditions caused large numbers of stores to cease deliveries to protect driver safety," said chief executive Chris Moore.