Domino's Pizza has reinforced its reputation as one of the winners of the recession by posting another big jump in sales.
The pizza delivery company announced this morning that like-for-like sales at its 501 established stores grew by 10.8% over the last 13 weeks. It said tactical marketing and the "deflationary media market" (that's code for advertising getting cheaper) had helped.
Chief executive Chris Moore said Domino's now expects to beat analyst forecasts for the current financial year:
"We still have to face some tough comparatives before the year end, but by focusing on the quality of our product and the excellence of our customer service, we are ready for the challenge.'As a result of strong trading in the third quarter, the Board believes it is on track to exceed market expectations for the full year."
Things aren't quite as rosy at ICAP, the City interdealer-broker, which warned this morning that profits for the last six months will be lower than last year. But with trading rebounding strongly from a lull over the summer, it still expects to hit forecasts for the full year.
Insurance giant Aviva has announced two pieces of news - the sale of its Australian businesses for £452m, and the long-awaited distribution of its 'inherited estate' to policyholders. A total of £460m is being shared out, which will mean payments of between £214 and £1,230.
And Robert Wiseman Dairies expects to beat profit forecasts after seeing a 10% surge in milk sales.
Traders are forecasting a quiet start to trading, although the release of the UK purchasing manager index data at 9.30am could move shares - as it may reinforce or undermine hopes of a UK economic recovery.
