Domino’s Pizza 2Q net income climbs 55 percent, customers keep buying revamped pizza

Domino’s Pizza 2Q net income rises on new pizza

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Domino’s Pizza Inc.’s second quarter profit rose 55 percent as more people bought more of its revamped pizza, pushing revenue higher.

The chain started promoting its new pie, which has a new sauce and cheese combination as well as a flavored crust, in December.

CEO J. Patrick Doyle said Domino’s is seeing more people returning to Domino’s for the new pizza, not just new customers.

“I continue to be bullish on the performance of our U.S. business,” he said in a news release.

Domino’s said its net income rose to $22.6 million, or 37 cents per share, in the three-month period ending June 20, up from $14.5 million, or 25 cents per share, a year earlier.

Excluding one-time gains related to extinguishing debt and other items, the company earned 33 cents per share.

The performance surpassed the 28 cents-per-share forecast of analysts polled by Thomson Reuters. Analyst estimates typically exclude one-time items.

Revenue increased 14.5 percent to $362.4 million from $316.6 million, topping Wall Street’s estimate of $344.5 million.

Revenue at U.S. stores open at least a year rose 8.8 percent on continued, improved response to the new pizza. Overseas, the figure rose 6.2 percent.

The metric is a key indicator of a restaurant operator’s performance because it measures growth from existing stores while excluding results from newly opened ones.

Domino’s runs 9,097 franchised and company-owned stores in the U.S. and more than 60 international markets.

The company repurchased $20.4 million of its debt in the quarter.

Shares fell 33 cents, or 2.4 percent, to $13.26 in midday trading Tuesday.