A strong rise in the number of online pizza orders over Christmas is set to result in better-than-expected profits at the UK arm of Domino's Pizza.
Britain's largest home-delivery pizza chain said like-for-like sales for the six weeks to 1 January rose 3.6%.
The increase was helped by a 57.6% rise in sales via the internet and through interactive television.
The rise helped Domino's sales for 2005 rise 7.1%. The firm says annual profits will be ahead of forecasts.
Domino's said that it opened 50 new stores last year, taking the total number of its franchised outlets in the UK and Ireland to 407.
"We were up against very challenging comparatives over the Christmas period so I was particularly pleased that we beat them," said chief executive Stephen Hemsley.
"I am confident that (Domino's) will deliver full year results ahead of current market expectations," he added.
Domino's global headquarters are in Michigan in the US, and the firm now has more than 7,000 stores in over 50 countries. Its UK business floated on the London stock market in 1999.
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