According to The Press Association, “Domino’s Pizza has been one of the clear winners from recession and Thursday’s trading update should continue the positive trend.”

“The company hiked pre-tax profits 25% to £13.6 million at the half-year stage as consumers swapped restaurants for takeaways and said it was likely to beat market hopes for the year as a whole. Domino’s, which has 576 franchise-run stores in the UK and Ireland, was also buoyed by its sponsorship of ITV hit Britain’s Got Talent, featuring singing sensation Susan Boyle. She helped the final become the most watched programme on television this year. Hotter weather earlier in the summer slowed like-for-like sales growth, but canny short-term pizza deals have nonetheless helped the business – driving sales up by more than 80% on one night. Domino’s, whose latest offerings include the Chicken Tikka pizza, plans to have 1,000 stores by 2017. Analysts are licking their lips at growth prospects despite the tougher sales comparisons which lie ahead later this year.”

“‘The Domino’s business has clearly taken the recession in its stride and continues to go from strength to strength… we continue to believe that the prospects for the group are such that profits could triple within 10 years,’ Altium analyst Greg Feehely says.”

“Irn-Bru firm AG Barr, which posts interim results on Tuesday, is set to be a beneficiary from the hot start to the summer which boosted demand for fizzy drinks. The Cumbernauld-based company, which was also trading against easier comparisons with the rain of the previous year, lifted like-for-like sales by 7.9% between February 1 and May 29. Including sales of exotic fruit drink brand Rubicon, which it bought last year, sales were up by 22.5%.”