On Thursday, Domino’s Pizza (NYSE:DPZ) Group Plc said third-quarter sales across its stores in the UK and Ireland dropped as demand was hit by higher taxes. Also, fewer people ordered in amid a lack of big-ticket events. However, excluding VAT rates, like-for-like sales increased by 2.4 per cent, while overall sales were still above pre-pandemic levels.

The company, a US-based Domino’s Pizza Inc franchisee, restated its full-year core profit expectation of 125 million pounds to 135 million pounds (USD 142.3 million to USD 153.6 million) after sales increased in the first six weeks of Q4.

The company added that its initial rollout partly buoyed current-quarter sales on the food delivery platform Just Eat, which would now be widely available. Also, the London-listed firm announced a share buyback of 20 million pounds. Reportedly, it had exercised the option to sell its investment in Germany and improve its cash position.

Reportedly, overall system sales in Q3 dropped 8.3 per cent to 344.7 million pounds.