UK's Domino's sales growth slows from previous quarter, shares fall

Oct 21 (Reuters) - Britain's Domino's Pizza Group reported a 2.3% rise in third-quarter like-for-like (LFL) sales on Wednesday, slower than the previous quarter, even though the company highlighted steady demand for its Italianos pizza range and Chick 'N' Dip fried chicken products.

• LFL sales growth in the three months ended September 30 slowed from 5.2% in the second quarter, sending the company's shares as much as 6% lower

• Order growth also slowed to 1.4% from 2.2% in the previous quarter

• Fast food chains are boosting their menus and tapping into the growing popularity of fried chicken to drive footfall and to counter slowing pizza demand

• Domino's launched "Chick 'N' Dip" last year

• The slowdown partly reflected a tougher comparison with last year, and a smaller World Cup boost than in the second quarter, Deutsche Bank Research analyst Richard Stuber said

• Still, year-to-date LFL sales growth was 4% at the pizza chain, ahead of expectations of 3.5% by Peel Hunt analysts

• Domino's shares, which are up about 33% so far this year, were trading 3.3% lower at 229.2 pence by 0940 GMT

• Panmure analyst Wayne Brown said Domino's shares had run well into the update and the weakness was also the stock "letting off some steam"

• Domino's franchises more than 1,400 pizza stores across the UK and Ireland

• The company maintained its full-year expectations and expressed confidence in growing earnings in fiscal 2027 and beyond

(Reporting by Nithyashree R B in Bengaluru; Editing by Ronojoy Mazumdar and Devika Syamnath)