Final Results - Year Ended 26 December 1999

Domino's Pizza UK & IRL PLC 18 February 2000 DOMINO'S PIZZA UK & IRL plc MAIDEN PRELIMINARY RESULTS FOR THE 52 WEEKS ENDED 26 DECEMBER 1999 Domino's Pizza UK & IRL plc ('Domino's Pizza') announces its maiden preliminary results since its flotation on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) in November 1999. Highlights System sales increased 16% to £63.5m (1998: £54.9m) Group turnover up 24% to £25.6m (1998: £20.7m) Operating profit before exceptional items up 31% to £2.06m (1998: £1.58m) Pre-tax profit before exceptional items increased by 19% to £1.85m (1998: £1.55m) Earnings per share (adjusted for exceptional items) up 12.1% to 3.06 pence per share Number of stores up to 201 from 175 Like-for-like sales up 5.6% Successful flotation on AIM E-commerce strategy launched Colin Halpern, Chairman of Domino's Pizza commented: 'I am delighted to report these excellent results, the first since the flotation of Domino's on AIM in November 1999. Sales and profits both grew substantially in the period and we opened a record number of stores, reaching over 200 by the year-end. Our e-commerce strategy has been successfully launched and we expect this to be a key growth area this year and beyond' Contact: Domino's Pizza 01908 580000 Stephen Hemsley / Chris Moore Buchanan Communications 0171 466 5000 Richard Oldworth / Jennie Duschenes Notes to editors: Domino's Pizza Group Limited is a wholly owned subsidiary of Domino's Pizza UK & IRL plc, which is quoted on the Alternative Investment Market of the London Stock Exchange. Domino's Pizza Group Limited is the UK's leading pizza delivery brand by sales and holds the master franchise to own, operate and franchise Domino's Pizza stores in the UK and Ireland. The first UK store opened in 1985 and there are currently 201 stores in the UK and Ireland. Domino's Pizza is the world's leading pizza delivery company and was founded in the United States in 1960. There are currently more than 6400 stores open across the world operated by approximately 1700 franchisees in 65 international markets employing approximately 120,000 people. Chairman's Statement Looking back often helps us in understanding what lies ahead. When I look back at the history of Domino's Pizza in the United Kingdom, I am filled with enthusiasm and excitement over what the future holds for our growing company. In 1985, for example, the market for Domino's Pizza in the United Kingdom was predicted to cap out at 100 stores. After all, what true Brit. would order a home-delivered pizza anyway? The market just wouldn't be there. But by 1993, management had revised its projection to 300 stores, citing a new eating trend in Britain that would be likely to increase pizza intake. Today, with more than 200 stores reaching approximately 30% of all UK households, it is projected that the UK market could support 900 or maybe 1000 stores based on the US model - and Domino's could create career opportunities for at least 20,000 people. Next year at this time, the future may be filled with even more opportunity for growth than we see today. At the start of the new Millennium, our goal is to build at least double the number of stores in the next five years. We expect to own, rather than franchise, more than a third of these, to benefit even more amply from the success of our units. We are looking to expand Domino's current 20% market share to closer to 50%. This should not only benefit Domino's, but also our many new shareholders that joined our ranks following our successful November 1999 flotation. We are already on our way to achieving all these goals. In 1999, true to the spirit of innovation that lies at the heart of Domino's Pizza, we became the first pizza delivery company in the UK to launch online and interactive ordering capabilities. By embracing e-commerce at such an early stage, we have already earned a reputation as the primary food-delivery brand in the UK both on the internet and interactive TV. The instant success we witnessed at the end of 1999 promises to be just the start of our e-commerce activities. In 2000 and beyond, we will build on and expand the strategic e-commerce relationships we have forged, including those with Sky Digital, Open TV, interactive cable providers and many others. We envisage hot links to games and interactive web sites that will further set us apart from the competition. After all, we've learned that in business things change fast. If you don't lead that change, you can too easily be trampled. Our slogan, 'Passionate about Pizza' holds true now, but we know that as we continue to grow, we will need to expand our capacity to handle higher volumes of orders without sacrificing the quality that has made our delivered pizzas number one in the UK. After all, no matter how many stores we open and no matter how many fresh pizzas we bake, we are only as good as the last pizza we deliver on a busy Friday night. With an average of 40,000 pizza deliveries on such a night, it is no small task to make sure that the last pizza is as good as the first. But growth is only part of the equation at Domino's. We are just as proud of our existing units and our loyal franchisees as we are of our 'tech-experts' that designed our phenomenal web site. Our existing stores experienced an average of nearly 6% in sales increases in 1999. This speaks volumes about the quality of our franchisees, store managers and other employees who have continued to make the Domino's experience a positive one for our long-standing customers as well as our new ones. Still, we give a large measure of credit to our Image 2000 refurbishment scheme where we set out to update the 'kerb appeal' of our older stores. Proof that a great image reflects a great product is evidenced by the fact that all stores that have undergone the Image 2000 treatment all experienced significant sales increases. Many people still look at Domino's and say we are a little pizza delivery company. We take that as a compliment. This tells us that the pride we have in every pizza we deliver comes through to all our customers. It also tells us that no matter how much we've grown - and how much we will continue to grow - we haven't lost that 'little pizza company' touch. This is why our customer base continues to grow, and why we believe our shareholders will continue to feel the pride - not to mention the financial satisfaction - in owning Domino's Pizza stock now, and for a long time to come. I thank you for your support. Colin Halpern Chairman Business and Financial Review I am delighted to report that Domino's Pizza had another year of solid growth and a substantial increase in both sales and operating profits in the UK and Republic of Ireland. The year also saw a number of important milestones achieved with our debut on the Stock Market and the opening of our 200th store. It also saw the launch of our e-commerce strategy that will become a key driver of growth in store sales over the coming years. Trading results System sales, which are the sales of all stores in the Domino's system in the UK and Republic of Ireland, rose by 15.7% to £63.5m from £54.9m. Group turnover was up 24% to £25.6m from £20.7m. The sales growth was achieved as a result of opening 29 new delivery stores (1998: 27 stores) and an increase in the average sales of delivery stores of 2.0% (1998: 2.1%). Like-for-like sales are up 5.6% (1998: 6.3%) demonstrating the value to the system of established franchisees. Just before the end of 1999 we reached an important landmark for the company with the opening of our 200th store in West India Dock Road, close to Canary Wharf in London. By the year-end the total number of stores in the UK and Republic of Ireland had reached 201. Three experimental stores located within Alldays convenience stores and Total petrol stations were closed in 1999 (1998: five experimental stores closed) leaving only seven such stores in the system at the year-end. This store format was appropriate in the early days of expansion in the UK when the brand was not as well recognised. However, most of these territories are now capable of supporting stand- alone delivery stores. Operating profits before exceptional items were up 30.6% to £2,058,000 from £1,576,000. This included a maiden contribution of £57,000 from our 41% shareholding in Full House Restaurants Ltd, a joint venture with a franchisee. Gross profit margin increased to 41.3% from 38.1% as a result of the improved operating efficiency of our new freehold head office, commissary and distribution facility in Milton Keynes. 1999 was the first full year of operating from this site, which gives us significant room for future expansion. The costs of operating from this significantly larger facility were reflected in a stepped change in the level of overheads, which increased by 35.7%. Future increases in overheads will be less dramatic. Despite this increase in overheads, the net operating margin continued to improve, rising to 7.8% from 7.6% in 1998. Pre-tax profits before exceptional items were up 19.4% to £1,848,000 from £1,548,000. The interest charge increased substantially in the year to £210,000 (1998: £28,000) as full occupation of the new facility resulted in interest on the mortgage being expensed. During the development phase this cost had been capitalised. The mortgage was repaid in full by the year-end from the proceeds of the flotation. The charge also included our share of the significant interest expense incurred by our joint-venture partner of £32,000, which resulted from the mainly debt financing of store acquisitions. The exceptional items of £495,000 incurred during the year related principally to the professional fees and other costs incurred in advice leading up to a flotation in early 1999 that was aborted due to market conditions. In addition, a charge of £62,000 was incurred on the loss incurred in vacating the leasehold property previously used as the Group's head office, commissary and distribution centre. Similar costs were incurred in 1998. Profit before tax but after exceptional items was £1,353,000 (1998: £1,473,000) reflecting the effect of these non-recurring costs and an increased interest charge. The effective tax rate for the year at 38.9% (1998: 28.2%) results from the prudent assumption that certain exceptional costs may not be allowed for tax purposes. Tax on the underlying profit remains at a similar effective rate as in 1998. Earnings per share and dividend Underlying earnings per share, adjusted for the one-off exceptional items, were 3.06 pence, a 12.1% increase over 1998. Fully diluted adjusted earnings per share were 3.01 pence, a 10.3% increase over 1998. The Board is pleased to propose a final dividend for the year of 0.29 pence per share bringing the total for the year to 0.71 pence per share, an 18.3% increase over 1998 (1998: 0.6 pence per share). The proposed dividend for the year is 2.50 times (1998: 4.2 times) covered by profits after tax. Excluding exceptional items the cover for 1999 was four times, the level of cover indicated in our November 1999 prospectus and that which we expect to maintain in the future. Balance Sheet The cash position of the Group improved significantly during the year as a result of the strong cash generating ability of the business and the proceeds of the flotation. At the year-end, the Group had net borrowings of £156,000 (1998: £2,623,000) against shareholders funds of £7,412,000 (1998: £3,689,000), a capital gearing ratio of only 2.1% (1998: 71.1%). Whilst we have significant unutilised bank facilities to finance future expansion, we will continue to adopt a cautious approach to gearing. Flotation On 24 November 1999, the company made its debut on the Alternative Investment Market of the London Stock Exchange. The offer for subscription was primarily targeted at our franchisees and employees, who I am pleased to say enthusiastically embraced the opportunity to become shareholders. The reception we received from institutional investors was also very positive, leading to the overall offer being more than three times over-subscribed. The shares have subsequently traded at a premium to the flotation price, justifying the trust of our investors. Strategy The strategy for the future expansion of the Group will be based on three key fundamentals. To grow store sales, particularly by the use of e-commerce, to increase the coverage of the system by an accelerated roll-out programme in our franchise territories and the enhancement of profitability by the operation of more corporate stores. We consider that the growth of e-commerce will have a fundamental effect on our business in two different ways - how we advertise our offering and how we receive orders. Traditionally, the most cost-effective medium has been direct mail (e.g. leaflets) and to this end we printed over 90 million pieces during the course of last year. However, due to the relatively low cost of this form of marketing, it is increasingly being employed by virtually every food delivery company resulting in what we feel is an increasing customer fatigue of this medium. Furthermore, the only means by which we could receive customers' orders were either personally at the store or over the telephone. E-commerce has transformed this environment. We can now provide full menu information to every home in the country capable of accessing the Internet or receiving digital television via satellite and cable and at a fraction of the cost of direct mail. We can receive orders back from our customers (in our delivery areas) using any of these new sales channels and fulfil those orders in 30 to 40 minutes. This ease of ordering and most importantly the almost instant fulfillment capability is second to none and is why we believe e-commerce represents such an exciting opportunity for us. We also have a distinctive advantage as very few competitors have the scale, geographic spread and infrastructure to capitalise on these opportunities. To ensure that we maximise this opportunity we have installed in every delivery store in the UK the technical infrastructure necessary to allow us to take orders from any e-commerce platform. This installation was completed in time for the launch of our first national interactive television ordering service on Open TV at the end of September and use of this service is growing rapidly. In December, we rolled out the online ordering service (e- pizzaTM) via our website www.dominos.co.uk to all delivery stores using the same infrastructure. Since the year-end we have secured deals with Telewest and others are expected shortly, to provide pizza delivery services on their forthcoming interactive TV ventures. We will also continue our relationship with Yes TV - the company responsible for our first interactive trial - as it expands to other areas of the country. We are now also in the process of establishing connectivity between our website and those of both internet portals and other frequently visited entertainment sites. The range of such sites is considerable, as is the opportunity to generate a two-way flow of users and increase our income potential. After just 18 weeks of trading on Open and 14 weeks of online ordering, e-commerce sales have already reached 2% of delivery sales in the UK. Encouragingly, average spend per order is high, with orders via Open TV approximately 25% higher than non e-commerce orders, and orders via the internet showing an even greater 35% increase. Furthermore, 54% of Open TV orders come from customers that are entirely new to Domino's. The opportunities created by e-commerce can only be fully exploited if we have the delivery infrastructure to service this demand. It is therefore fundamental to our strategy that we continue a rapid roll out of new stores. The present 201 stores cover around 30% of the UK population. We therefore intend to accelerate the rate of openings and are confident that this can be maintained for a number of years. The number and demographics of households within a safe delivery time dictate the siting of new stores. The increased awareness of Domino's and acceptance of high quality home delivered food is such that new stores require fewer households to support viable operation. This also gives us the opportunity to split many of the existing territories thereby increasing the maximum potential number of new stores in the franchise territory. The award winning sponsorship of The Simpsons on Sky One has played a major part in increasing brand awareness to 81% from 65% in early 1998 in all UK homes (and 90% in homes with satellite/cableTV). Encouragingly, research has recently confirmed that our sponsorship with The Simpsons shows no sign of 'stagnation'. Additionally the number of homes with access to Sky One continues to increase with the improved penetration of satellite and cable TV. This increased awareness coupled with an aggressive new store opening package that was introduced in 1999 has also helped the performance of new stores. In their first 12 weeks of trading, new stores in 1999 performed on average 43% higher than new stores in 1998. The final element of our strategy is to increase significantly the number of stores that we own and operate ourselves. The store level economics of the Domino's system can be very attractive once a minimum level of sales is achieved. Historically the Group's efforts have been focused on the rapid expansion of total number of stores, with the necessary capital investment being provided by our franchisees. With our flotation we now have access to the capital necessary both to purchase existing franchised stores and also to open new stores corporately. A number of acquisitions of existing stores are currently under negotiation. We remain committed, however, to the long- term development of the franchised system and expect franchised stores to represent the majority of the system for the foreseeable future. Current trading and prospects The beginning of year 2000 saw the launch of an aggressive price-based marketing campaign designed to combat the effects of reduced post-Millennium consumer spending which, as anticipated, was subdued in the first month of the year. We are confident of another strong performance in the current year. Stephen Hemsley Finance Director Domino's Pizza UK & IRL plc Four Year Summary 1999 1998 1997 1996 System sales (£m) 63.5 54.9 44.1 34.5 Group sales (£m) * 25.6 20.7 17.2 14.0 Operating profit (£'000's)* 2,058 1,576 1,058 589 Profit before tax (£'000's)* 1,848 1,548 922 371 Adjusted basic earnings per share (pence)* 3.06 2.73 1.92 1.40 Basic earnings per share (pence) 1.91 2.54 1.60 0.89 Dividend per share (pence) 0.71 0.60 - - Shareholders funds (£'000's) 7,412 3,689 2,882 2,218 Net cash/(indebtedness) (£'000's) (156) (2,623) (602) (108) Capital gearing 2.1% 71.1% 20.9% 4.9% Stores at start of year 175 153 125 102 Stores opened 29 27 28 25 Stores closed (3) (5) (2) Stores at year-end 201 175 153 125 Corporate stores at year- end 14 6 5 3 Average sales per delivery store (£) 6,862 6,725 6,587 5,947 Sale growth (%) 2.0% 2.1% 10.8% 8.9% Like-for-like sales 5.6% 6.3% 11.1% 14.7% growth (%) * Including joint venture but excluding discontinued operations and exceptional items GROUP PROFIT AND LOSS ACCOUNT for the 52 weeks ended 26 December 1999 Before exceptionalExceptional items itemsProformaProforma 1999 1999 1999 1998 Notes £000 £000 £000 £000 TURNOVER Turnover: group and share of joint ventures' turnover 26,758 - 26,758 20,711 Less: share of joint ventures' turnover (1,148) - (1,148) - GROUP TURNOVER 25,610 - 25,610 20,711 Cost of sales (15,024) - (15,024)(12,813) GROSS PROFIT 10,586 - 10,586 7,898 Distribution costs (3,340) - (3,340) (2,073) Administrative expenses (5,475) (433) (5,908) (4,423) 1,771 (433) 1,338 1,402 Other operating income 236 - 236 174 GROUP OPERATING PROFIT 2,007 (433) 1,574 1,576 Share of operating profit in joint venture 57 - 57 - Amortisation of goodwill on joint venture (6) - (6) - 51 - 51 - TOTAL OPERATING PROFIT: GROUP AND SHARE OF JOINT VENTURE 2,058 (433) 1,625 1,576 Loss on disposal of tangible and intangible fixed assets - (62) (62) (75) 2,058 (495) 1,563 1,501 Interest receivable 56 - 56 74 Interest payable and similar charges (266) - (266) (102) PROFIT ON ORDINARY ACTIVITIES BEFORE TAXATION 1,848 (495) 1,353 1,473 Tax on profit on ordinary activities (526) - (526) (415) PROFIT FOR THE FINANCIAL YEAR 1,322 (495) 827 1,058 Dividends on equity shares4 (331) (250) PROFITRETAINED FOR THE FINANCIAL YEAR 496 808 GROUP PROFIT AND LOSS ACCOUNT for the 52 weeks ended 26 December 1999 ProformaProforma 1999 1998 Notes £000 £000 Earnings per share-basic 5 1.91p 2.54p - diluted 1.88p 2.54p adjusted for exceptional items - adjusted basic 3.06p 2.73p - adjusted diluted 3.01p 2.73p There are no recognised gains or losses other than those included in the profit and loss account. GROUP BALANCE SHEET at 26 December 1999 Proforma 1999 1998 Notes £000 £000 FIXED ASSETS Intangible assets 594 615 Tangible assets 7,328 6,227 Investments Investments in joint venture: Share of assets 696 789 Share of liabilities (475) (584) 221 205 Investment properties 373 198 594 403 8,516 7,245 CURRENT ASSETS Stocks 772 669 Debtors 4,012 3,465 Cash at bank and in hand 4,581 1,082 9,365 5,216 CREDITORS: amounts falling due within one year (5,852) (5,366) NET CURRENT ASSETS/(LIABILITIES) 3,513 (150) TOTAL ASSETS LESS CURRENT LIABILITIES 12,029 7,095 CREDITORS: amounts falling due after more than one year (4,617) (3,406) 7,412 3,689 CAPITAL AND RESERVES Called up share capital 2,500 1,200 Share premium account 2,102 - Profit and loss account 2,810 2,489 Equity shareholders' funds 7,412 3,689 GROUP STATEMENT OF CASH FLOWS For the 52 weeks ended 26 December 1999 ProformaProforma 1999 1998 Notes £000 £000 NET CASH INFLOW FROM OPERATING ACTIVITIES 3 2,489 2,607 RETURNS ON INVESTMENTS AND SERVICING OF FINANCE Interest received 56 74 Interest paid (205) (199) Interest element of finance lease payments (30) (30) (179) (155) TAXATION Corporation tax paid (including advance corporation tax) (700) (249) CAPITAL EXPENDITURE AND FINANCIAL INVESTEMENT Payments to acquire intangible fixed assets (40) (47) Payments to acquire tangible fixed assets (1,850) (3,575) Payments to acquire investment properties (175) (75) Receipts from sales of tangible and intangible fixed assets 167 353 (1,898) (3,344) ACQUISITIONS AND DISPOSALS Purchase of shares in joint venture - (205) Loan made to joint venture - (345) - (550) EQUITY DIVIDENDS PAID (435) - NET CASH OUTFLOW BEFORE FINANCING (723) (1,691) FINANCING Issue of ordinary share capital 3,825 - Share issue costs (598) - New long-term loans 4,500 4,824 Repayments of long-term loans (3,000)(2,820) Repayment of parent undertaking loan (400) (225) Repayment of capital element of finance leases and hire purchase contracts (105) (140) 4,222 1,639 INCREASE/(DECREASE) IN CASH 3,499 (52) NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS at 26 December 1999 1. ACCOUNTING POLICIES Basis of preparation The accounts are prepared under the historical cost convention and in accordance with applicable accounting standards. The accounts are in compliance with the Companies Act 1985 except that, as explained below, investment properties are not depreciated. 2. TURNOVER AND SEGMENTAL ANALYSIS The principal components of turnover are royalties received, commissary and equipment sales, sale of franchises, pizza delivery sales and rental income on leasehold properties stated net of value added tax after eliminating inter-company transactions. All of the turnover is in one continuing business segment and all of it originates in the United Kingdom. Geographical analysis of Group Turnover Proforma Proforma 1999 1998 £000 £000 Turnover by destination: United Kingdom 24,966 20,447 Republic of Ireland 458 258 Continental Europe 186 6 25,610 20,711 3. NOTES TO THE STATEMENT OF CASH FLOWS Reconciliation of operating profit to net cash inflow from operating activities Proforma Proforma 1999 1998 £000 £000 Operating profit 1,574 1,576 Depreciation charge 586 472 Amortisation charge 54 48 (Profit)/loss on sale of tangible and intangible fixed assets (22) 4 (Increase)/decrease in stocks (103) 10 (Increase) in debtors (1,145) (792) Increase in creditors 1,545 1,289 2,489 2,607 4. DIVIDENDS The Board is recommending a final dividend of 0.29p. Taken with the interim dividend of 0.42p paid in 1999 this gives a total of 0.71p, representing an increase in the overall dividend of 18.3%. Subject to approval at the Annual General Meeting to be held on 17 April 2000, the proposed final dividend will be paid on 25 April 2000 to persons registered as holders of the Ordinary Shares at close of business on 7 April 2000. Proforma Proforma 1999 1998 Equity dividends on ordinary shares: £000 £000 Interim paid 0.42p (1998: 0.36p) 185 150 Final proposed 0.29p (1998: 0.24p) 146 100 331 250 5. EARNINGS PER ORDINARY SHARE The calculation of basic earnings per ordinary share is based on earnings of £827,000 (1998: £1,058,000) and on 43,245,384 (1998: 41,563,443) ordinary shares. The diluted earnings per share is based on 43,941,773 ordinary shares which takes into account theoretical ordinary shares that would have been issued, based on average market value if all outstanding options were exercised. An adjusted earnings per share has been provided to eliminate the distortions caused by exceptional items of £495,000 (1998: £75,000). This is presented as in the opinion of the directors this allows a better comparison of underlying performance. 6. FINANCIAL INFORMATION The financial information set out in the announcement does not constitute the Company's statutory accounts for the 52 weeks ended 26 December 1999 or 27 December 1998. The financial information for the 52 weeks ended 27 December 1998 is derived from the statutory accounts for that year which have been delivered to the Registrar of Companies. The auditors reported on those accounts; their report was unqualified and did not contain a statement under section 237(2) or (3) of the Companies Act 1985. The statutory accounts for the 52 weeks ended 26 December 1999 will be finalised on the basis of the financial information presented by the Directors in this preliminary announcement and will be delivered to the Registrar of Companies following the Company's Annual General Meeting.
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