Dominos Pizza enjoys a successful first half of 2009, and looks to exceed expectations in the latter half.

Britain’s biggest pizza chain, Dominos Pizza, has announced half yearly profit before tax of £13.6 million, up 25.2% compared to 2008.

The take-away pizza chain has enjoyed a successful start to the year with like-for-like sales up 7.1% and system sales up by 15.4% to £196.4m. Sponsorship of ITV’s Britains Got Talent, will have no doubt had a positive effect on sales.

As a result of the excellent half year results, Dominos said the dividend payout would increase by 29.6% to 3.5p per share, compared to 2.7p in 2008. At the end of trading following the announcement, shares on the London stock market rose by 3.5p.

Chief Executive Officer, Chris Moore, said: “I am pleased to announce a strong set of half year results.

“This growth was achieved against a backdrop of continued economic turbulence, the recent good weather and some very strong comparatives from last year.”

Mr Moore remained cautiously optimistic about the future: “We are mindful of the tougher second half comparatives, especially towards the latter part of the year. However, given the strong performance in the first half, the number of new store openings anticipated in the second half and the operational gearing within the business, the Board believes it is on track to exceed market expectations for the full year.”

Dominos’ results appear to dispel the latest research from Allegra Strategies, which reported that the £40 billion market for “informal eating out” was expected to shrink by 0.5% in 2009. The report suggested that UK diners were eating one in nine meals away from home, down from one in eight last year.