Domino’s sees healthy growth in first quarter

Domino’s Pizza Inc. (DPZ) reported a 25.8% growth in total revenues to $785 million for the first quarter of 2018. Revenues benefited from higher supply chain volumes resulting from order and store count growth.

Net income grew 42.2% to approximately $89 million, driven by an increase in global royalty revenue and higher supply chain volumes.Earnings also saw a positive impact from the tax reform. Diluted EPS grew 58.7% to $2.

Revenue and EPS beat market expectations and shares rose following the release.

Global retail sales growth was 16.8%. Domestic same-store sales grew 8.3% while international same-store sales rose 5%. Same-store sales at company-owned outlets in the U.S. grew 6.4%, and at franchise stores, growth was 8.4%.

During the first quarter, global net store growth was 110 stores, including 79 new international stores and 31 new domestic stores.

On April 24, 2018, the Board of Directors declared a $0.55 per share quarterly dividend for shareholders of record as of June 15, 2018, to be paid on June 29, 2018.

Domino’s CEO J. Patrick Doyle is set to retire in June, and he will be succeeded by Richard Allison who is currently International President.

Domino’s launched a novel voice recognition app called DOM to take telephone orders. The app, which was built with the help of artificial intelligence and is being tested in 20 stores in the U.S., has gotten positive responses. The company envisions becoming 100% digital at some point in the future.

In the U.K., Domino’s Pizza Group, a franchisee of Domino’s Pizza Inc., reported sales growth of 18.3%. Sales at stores open for more than a year grew 7% while online sales increased 16.2%. The British company opened nine stores in the first quarter and is set to open 65 to 75 new stores this year.