Domino’s Pizza Enterprises Limited (DPE) has announced results for the first quarter of the 2015 financial year, comprised of strong Net Profit After Tax (NAPT) and impressive Same Store Sales across the Group.

DPE Group CEO and Managing Director, Don Meij said the Company was currently on track to deliver its forecast results, crediting a strong growth in Group Same Store Sales. In this respect, ANZ and Europe were performing above management’s expectations.

“We are experiencing positive momentum across the business, particularly in Australia and New Zealand with Same Store Sales growth of 10.7 per cent reported and Europe achieving Same Store Sales of 7.5 per cent year to date,” Mr Meij said.

Mr Meij said Japan was currently performing in line with management expectations, achieving a 1.2 per cent Same Store Sales growth.

“As a result of the strong earnings we are upgrading our Full Year 2015 Guidance of 25 per cent growth over 2014 underlying¹ NPAT and EBITDA,” Mr Meij said. “While we remain cautious with eight months of trading ahead, we are confident of continuing the current momentum,” he said.

Plans for record store growth

Mr Meij also confirmed plans for record store growth numbers in all six markets with 175-185 new stores set to be added to the Group in FY15 alone.

“We are well on our way to achieving a new store build record this financial year, with a total of 36 new stores already opened year to date and a strong pipeline planned up until Christmas,” Mr Meij said.

As well as strong organic store openings, Mr Meij said, “the restructured European management team, under Andrew Rennie’s leadership, has had a positive impact evident in the Solid Same Store Sales already achieved”.

Due to the upgrade in Guidance, DPE also confirmed an uplift in Net Capex to $60m-$70m to assist with future growth plans.

Continued focus on online initiatives

Mr Meij said that DPE will continue its focus on product development and online initiatives as key drivers of future growth across all six markets.

“With our Australian and New Zealand market leading the way in technology, Europe and Japan have taken key learnings from this to invest in areas that will really make a difference to their position in the market,” Mr Meij said.  “This includes the rollout and implementation of a global point of sales and online ordering system which is already delivering an additional material layer to sales growth,” he said.

“We are committed to continued development in key areas–product development, digital innovation, and updating and refreshing our image,” Mr Meij said.

GPS Tracking Solution in development

Mr Meij said DPE remained “100 per cent committed to providing our customers with greater choice and transparency” with the investment of new initiatives such as the GPS Tracking Solution set to be rolled out into Australian and New Zealand stores by June 2015.

“The first phase of the GPS Tracking technology is focussed on increasing driver safety and efficiency,” Mr Meij said. “The next evolution of this is for customers to be able to track their pizza order from the store to their door,” he said.

Annual report released via mobile phone app

DPE launched its 2014 financial year Annual Report via an App for the first time.

“We know that our customers and our shareholders are busy people and in order to be relevant we need to adapt and fit in with their lifestyle,” Mr Meij said. “With this at the heart of our operations, we have made this year’s Annual Report available as an App. It’s interactive, informative and reflects our People Powered movement,” he said.

New Group Chief Digital Officer appointed

In line with DPE’s strategy to develop its digital innovations, the Company also announced the appointment of a newly created position in the leadership team with Michael Gillespie announced as Group Chief Digital Officer (CDO).

Mr Meij said the appointment was the next obvious step for a brand that prides itself on being progressive in the online space.

“Digital is a huge part of our DNA – it’s here to stay, it’s who we are as a business and the appointment of a CDO is a transformative role that is all about connecting different disciplines and different departments,” Mr Meij said.

“The appointment of a Group CDO in DPE means we will continue to drive the digital strategy and ensure that we have the right forward-thinking capabilities to support and leverage the business from a digital perspective in all six of our markets,” Mr Meij said.

DPE was Australia’s first publicly-listed pizza company and is the master franchisor for the Domino’s Pizza brand in Australia, New Zealand, France, Belgium, The Netherlands and Japan. Across these six markets, DPE and its franchisees currently operate over 1300 stores and sell over 90 million pizzas annually.