Domino's delivers bigger profits

Domino's warned that its prices are likely to go up early next year

Domino's Pizza UK and Ireland has reported strong growth in profits as cash-strapped consumers choose takeaways instead of eating out.

Pre-tax profits rose 32.7% to £10.9m in the six months to the end of June.

Domino's chairman Stephen Hemsley said he had seen a trend of consumers "trading down" by eating out less often and staying at home instead.

The company said prices were unlikely to go up again this year but warned of "modest" rises early next year.

Domino's, which runs Britain's largest pizza home delivery chain, plans to open 50 new stores this year.

It currently operates 526 stores in the UK and Ireland.

The dramatic increases in food and fuel prices from the second half of last year had already been passed on to customers through price increases, the company said.

But it added that it now has fixed-price contracts for a lot of the ingredients it uses, which should avoid further increases this year.

"But it is likely that further modest price increases will be necessary early next year," the company warned.