The like-for-like sales of DP Eurasia jumped 36% in the first four months of the year, the pizza firm that runs the Domino’s Pizza brand in Turkey and Russia said on Thursday.
The sales were driven by “excellent” demand in Turkey, it said, despite high inflation and geopolitical tensions.
Sales at the group’s own stores and franchise outlets rose to TL 1.04 billion ($63.40 million) from January to April, with like-for-like growth of 47.6% in Turkey, while Russia saw a decline of 1.5% based on the weak ruble.
“In Russia, we have returned a flat like-for-like performance as a result of a strong comparable period and the sustained conflict in the region,” Chief Executive Officer Aslan Saranga said in a statement.
The London-listed company, which runs 184 stores with around 3,000 employees in Russia, had in April said it planned to continue to operate in the country.
In contrast, many Western groups, including Starbucks and McDonald’s, are quitting the market following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24.
The group said it had been focused on optimizing the existing store coverage areas in Russia, resulting in the closure of four stores during the first four months of the year.
During the same period in Turkey, where DP Eurasia is the largest pizza delivery group,it opened 12 new stores and expects to maintain the positive momentum of last year,when it saw the highest level of store openings since 2014.
The group still would not provide an outlook for the full year, after it refrained from doing it in April due to uncertainties over the impact of the war in Ukraine and high inflation in Turkey.
Turkey’s annual inflation jumped to a two-decade high of 69.97% in April, fueled by the Russia-Ukraine conflict and rising energy and commodity prices.