Domino’s Pizza has surpassed its predicted profits, having seen revenues jump by 19.6% in the first half of the year. Its like-for-like system sales also increased by 9.7% for the half-year, with a rise of 8.2%. The food chain has said that these rises are a result of 29 new store openings demand for deals from customers and improved delivery times. The group said that continued positive demand means that it is set to post an underlying core profit of between £132m and £138m, after analysts had guided towards a profit of £127.6m. Following the release of these results, shares in the company were up 8.6% at 377.2p per share.

Metro Bank has reported its strongest financial performance in “several years” in H1, having been bolstered by higher interest rates and the completion of its turnaround plan. The banking group has reported a pre-tax profit of £15.4m in H1, increasing from a loss of £10.5m last year. Furthermore, Metro Bank reported that it marked its first half-year of statutory profitability since its transformation plan completed, after overcoming legacy issues including historic global sanctions. It also suffered heavy losses during COVID and fines from the UK regulator over an accounting blunder.

UK bakery firm, Greggs, has seen pre-tax profits rise by 10% in the past year to £163m, following the company’s extended evening opening hours. In the first half of 2023, the firm saw a 21.5% increase in sales, as well as a rise in underlying sales to 16%, which boosted underlying pre-tax profit excluding exceptional items by 14%. Although the report shows that rising costs have had an impact on the firm, it expects inflation to moderate to 7% from 11%, putting the annual rate to 9%. It is set to open 150 new shops over the course of the year, including in supermarket outlets such as Tesco, and in airports.

Alcoholic beverage company, Diageo, has narrowly beat full-year earnings estimates as sales of its more expensive brands offset lower volumes. Having invested into higher demand from cocktail makers during the pandemic which saw an increase in at-home sales. After lockdown measures were ended, many people stayed with these brands in bars and restaurants. The most expensive brands accounted for 57% of its overall organic net sales growth, with organic net sales rising by 6.5% in the year to 30 June, edging the 6.4% expected by analysts. Furthermore, operating profits rose by 7%, beating the 6.3% expected by analysts.

Share Story: