Domino's, the pizza delivery chain, said today that a boom in internet orders and a record roll-out of stores had boosted pre-tax profits by 54 per cent to £6.5 million.
The news comes as the Government considers moves, such as a mooted "fat tax", to deter an increasingly obese British public from choosing fast food ahead of healthier alternatives.
However, the pizza chain seems to have profited from Britain's couch-potatoe culture. Domino's said more than £5.8 million of its £142.3 million sales in the UK and Ireland in 2003 came via the web or interactive television - representing a 48 per cent rise over 2002 and 4.5 per cent of its total sales in the UK.
The group, which has 318 stores in the UK and the Republic of Ireland, opened a record 50 new delivery stores in 2004 against 34 last year and has more than doubled the rate of new store openings during the last two years.
Chief executive Stephen Hemsley said trading in the first six weeks of the new financial year had been satisfactory, with like-for-like sales up by 4.3 per cent. The group would aim to maintain the rate of expansion achieved last year, he added.
"We therefore look forward to 2004 with confidence," Mr Hemsley said.
Domino's, which started in the US in 1960 and opened its first UK store in 1985, has more than 7,000 stores and more than 250,000 staff in 50 countries.
It said it had boosted new store openings by nearly 50 per cent and increased sales by nearly 20 per cent or £23.3 million to £142 million - an all-time high - in the UK and Republic of Ireland with virtually no increase in its head count.
In 2003, the group opened 22 branches in the south of England, eight in the Midlands, five in northern England, six in the Irish Republic, one in Northern Ireland, two in Wales and six in Scotland.
The group attributed the progress to offering a core menu of food through a simple format and technology expansion.
It does not have sit-down restaurants and focuses on selling a core range of pizzas. Four of its five best-selling toppings last year were meat-based.
The group said the investment in technology had helped its aggressive expansion and pledged further improvements to sustain the growth in Internet and TV-based sales.
It added that it planned to launch an upgraded image for its stores this summer, which would become the standard for new and refurbished stores.
The group is increasing the total dividend per share to investors by 75 per cent to 3.5p.
