Pizza the action

DOMINO’S Pizza Enterprises plans to open 400 new stores in Australian and New Zealand over the next seven years, expanding its network by one-third.

Stressing that it still has plenty of capacity for growth, the fast-food franchisor will also double its European store numbers and add about 330 to its operations in Japan as it builds a global chain totalling 4650 by the end of 2025.

The planned rollout was highlighted as shares in Domino’s slumped by as much as 13 per cent in intraday trade yesterday after the group missed its full-year profit target and downgraded its forecast rate of growth.

Net profit for the year to July 1, rose 18 per cent to $121.5 million, Domino’s said.

Underlying profit, which strips out one-off items, rose 15 per cent to $136.2 million, well off the 20 per cent Domino’s had forecast.

Earnings before interest and tax are forecast to range between $227 million and $247 million this financial year, again falling short of the $252.7 million analysts had been expecting.

“The actual numbers missed even the lowest analyst estimate, coming as quite a shock to the market,” said IG market analyst Kyle Rodda.

Over the past year, sales rose 11.7 per cent to $2.59 billion, with online sales up 19.4 per cent to $1.65 billion.