World Cup a winner for Domino’s

Domino’s Pizza raked in record orders at the end of last year thanks to hungry football fans watching the World Cup.

The takeaway giant saw a record 18.5m orders in the UK and ireland in the last three months of 2022.

Total orders were up 4pc in the fourth quarter while collections were 28pc higher than in the same period a year earlier.

The football tournament in Qatar helped drive sales, as did its partnership with the food-ordering platform Just Eat. But technology investments in the Domino’s app and elevated interest costs took a bite out of annual profits, which stood at £98.9m in 2022, down 13.2pc compared to a £113.9m pocketed the year before.

The FTSE 250 company also saw a 2.8pc dip in sales from 2021, when Britons ordered more deliveries and takeaways in Covid-19 lockdowns.

But sales were still a fifth higher than before the pandemic, hitting £1.46bn in 2022, compared to £1.2bn in 2019.