Domino’s Pizza showed on Wednesday that it delivers more than just pizza. In a trading update, like-for-like sales for the 13 weeks to September 28 rose 8.8 per cent. The company says it is benefiting from customers shunning dining out to eat at home. It also remains set to meet its target of 50 new outlets, having already opened 34 during the year, bringing the total to 535. However, it’s the business model that is most attractive. The company has low fixed costs and relatively low operational gearing, which means that fluctuations in turnover don’t cause disproportionate profit swings. Furthermore, any increases in food costs can be passed on to its franchisees. Investec estimates that after £17m of capital expenditure this year, Domino’s net debt to ebitda (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) will be just 0.84 times. The shares trade on premium to the sector, on 17 times 2009 earnings. But a slice of Domino’s looks good value.


