DP Poland PLC on Tuesday emphasised its focus on improving business profitability and reaching positive cash flow, as it posted a narrowed pretax loss for the first half.

DP Poland is the London-based operator of Domino’s pizza stores and restaurants in Poland and Croatia.

For the six months to June 30, DP Poland reported a pretax loss of £1.6 million, narrowed from a loss of £2.2 million a year prior.

Revenue, meanwhile, increased to £21.0 million from £16.6 million. System sales were up 25% to £21.4 million from £16.6 million, which DP Poland attributed to a third store opening in Croatia, as well as store network optimisation in Poland.

In Croatia, the transition of the Croatian currency from the kuna to the euro at the beginning of the year contributed to weaker sales in January. However, DP Poland noted that the market returned to double-digit like-for-like sales growth from February, delivering an average weekly order count per store above 1,100. This sets an ‘aspirational benchmark’ for the Polish market, it said.

Direct costs were £16.3 million versus £13.5 million year-on-year, while selling, general, and administrative costs came to £3.6 million from £2.7 million.

Looking ahead, DP Poland expects to see a ‘continued improvement’ in profitability as it grows sales. The firm said it was confident that ‘the drive for order growth and network expansion is the key to success’, and maintained that ‘the improvement of business profitability and positive cash flow is the prime goal for the entire team’.

‘The results we have achieved position the company firmly for ongoing market share expansion. This growth will be fuelled by continued operational excellence, enhancing our digital solutions for customer orders and internal processes, and maintaining an unwavering commitment to our customer value proposition. We anticipate that these efforts will lead to the creation of new sales records for the company, and continued improvement in [earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation],’ said Chief Executive Officer Nils Gornall.

DP Poland shares closed 4.9% lower at 6.75 pence each in London on Tuesday.

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