Red or Black, Domino’s is the winner

Domino’s Pizza has hailed the launch of a new “gourmet” range backed by adverts in game show Red or Black for a boost in sales.

The delivery firm, which has 702 outlets in the UK, Ireland and Germany, increased advertising spending in the 13 weeks to 25 September as it also signed a deal with Channel 5 to allow it to sell a Big Brother-designed pizza. But the marketing investment paid off as like-for-like sales in the UK increased 4.1 per cent in the quarter, up from 3.4 per cent in the first half of the year, a trading update yesterday revealed.

The “well received” gourmet range, developed to win middle-class customers on bigger budgets, was launched in July alongside a new stuffed crust pizza.

Despite the rise in sales, broker Peel Hunt cut its recommendation on the firm’s shares from “buy” to “hold”.

Meanwhile, Panmure Gordon analyst Simon French said like-for-like sales had come in short of expectations.

“Bearing in mind this quarter had the full benefit of stuffed crust, Gourmet and upweighted advertising spend… we think the market will be disappointed with the update.”