Domino’s is looking at buying ailing rival Eagle Boys as part of its plan to increase the number of stores in its biggest market to 1200 over the next nine years.

The fast food retailer wants to expand its network from 714 stores to 1200 by 2025, up from its previous guidance of 900 stores for Australia and New Zealand.

Don Meij, Domino’s chief executive,  said the group was looking at ways to accelerate growth through network expansion and acquisitions, after reporting another record full-year profit.

Domino’s on Tuesday said it had lifted annual profit 28.7 per cent to $82.4 million, with revenue surging 30.9 per cent after strong growth in Europe and its biggest market, Australia and New Zealand.

“An acquisition could be as early as six months or could be as long as three years,” Meij said.

Meij confirmed the group was interested in Eagle Boys, which was put up for sale after going into voluntary administration in July.

“We are taking a look (at Eagle Boys). It is quite small,” Meij said.

But, he added: “We are growing sales from outside the pizza category”.

He said Domino’s planned to launch a new menu but that would not include hamburgers. It would, though, offer a wide range of desserts, chicken and bread sides, all of which were generating double digit sales growth.

Meij said that even with 1200 stores, Domino’s would only be the fourth largest player in the $20 billion-plus quick service restaurant sector in Australia and New Zealand.

That meant there was plenty of room to grab a bigger market share, he said.

The market leader is McDonald’s, followed by Subway and KFC.

AAP

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