Latest news with #vanDyck
Sydney Morning Herald
2 days ago
- Business
- Sydney Morning Herald
Fast-food fixer: 83-year-old Hungry Jack wants a five-minute plan for Domino's Pizza
But the conditions for success during that era were some of the best the pizza chain could have wished for. COVID-19 lockdowns keeping everyone at home created huge – but temporary – demand for food delivery. Fast-food customers and investors alike were grabbing a slice of Domino's, which reached a share price record high of nearly $160 in September 2021. Since then, it hasn't capitalised on the flash-in-the-pan success. Pizza sales have stalled. Profit predictions were downgraded three times in a year. 'It has been this huge growth story for a long time. The last two or three years hasn't [delivered] any growth,' said Tom Kierath, investment banking firm Barrenjoey's head of consumer research. Investors fled the stock after van Dyck's resignation was announced, sending the share price to little over a tenth of that peak to $16.96. Cowin was aware of the need to reassure rattled shareholders, with van Dyck's departure coming so soon after Meij's. The billionaire businessman has a personal stake – 25.7 per cent – in fixing this. 'The business has got to do better. We're custodians of other people's money,' Cowin said. 'But to make this business successful, we have to have growth, and we have to do it now rather than on a long-term basis.' What's gone wrong at Domino's? Domino's problems didn't appear overnight. Many competitive edges that once made it a market leader have eroded over years. Meij sought to make Domino's website and app best-in-class, spending nearly $23 million in half a year alone on digital platforms. The investment doesn't appear to have generated high returns. 'You had the Peloton bubble, you had the Lululemon bubble with everyone buying casual wear, and we had this Domino's bubble because they were digitally well advanced beyond anyone else,' said food industry consultant and Titanium Food director Suzee Brain. 'That gave them inflated confidence that they were the new flavour of the month. So they started some really massive expansion off the back of a false economy.' The rapid store roll-out across Europe and Asia, once a major sales driver, was reversing. In Australia, Domino's couldn't keep the sales spurt they enjoyed during the pandemic. 'They weren't able to keep a lot of those customers, because there's another problem: the product is not all that great,' said Brain. 'They've never marketed it because they make great pizza … But now, it actually needs to be about the pizza.' Domino's is facing a more competitive and diverse fast-food landscape in which players such as Guzman y Gomez and El Jannah are attracting younger customers and US chains Five Guys and Wingstop are keen for their slice of the market. As Australia's dominant pizza chain, industry watchers believe Domino's must advocate more effectively for the entire pizza category. Loading 'As part of your 'what we do for the kids for a family eating Sunday evening dinner' [considerations], does Domino's become part of the conversation more than it currently is? That's the opportunity,' said one industry analyst who declined to be named. The business must become more profitable, Cowin has told investors. Ideally, this would happen through a sales uplift, but as there's no guarantee of that, costs need to be pulled out of the business. As delivery aggregators Uber Eats and DoorDash eat Domino's lunch, IT spending has been an early target. 'Our technology is not any better than Uber's and the other people that we have to deal with,' said Cowin. 'If you don't have a competitive advantage, let's stop trying to recreate the wheel.' Franchisee profitability is a key priority for Domino's, with weekly store sales ranging from $30,000 to $100,000, Cowin revealed. But margins were eroded by the spurt of high inflation across ingredients such as cheese as well as wages, fuel and electricity. Meij tried to pass this on by imposing a 6 per cent delivery fee, which backfired with customers who punished the move by buying fewer pizzas. 'Relative price point becomes very important,' said Ten Cap co-founder and lead portfolio manager Jun Bei Liu. 'This price increase for the fast-food category was just so wrong.' Several fund managers, stock pickers and analysts believe at least some dead weight needs to be shed. Domino's should sell France and exit Japan, said outspoken stockbroker Angus Aitken. Barrenjoey's Keirath agrees. 'If they get Taiwan, right, is it going to move the dial? No, it's becoming a distraction. The same in Malaysia,' he said. 'What you do by staying in those markets is you dilute the core markets.' Who's up for the job? Recruitment is under way for Van Dyck's replacement. But they will have to be someone who will have to play by the rules laid out by Cowin, who has made it clear he wants to see rapid change. Loading 'If you have a strong chair in place [who has] already said to the market, 'well, that guy is not there because he's not delivering on costs', then the next person has to subscribe to that view,' said Ten Cap's Liu. 'When you have to focus on costs, you got to be a tough person. You can't be a nice guy.' There are plenty who think Domino's is still a good deal, such as Morningstar equity analyst Johannes Faul, who said the leadership instability has injected uncertainty in the short term but described the pizza chain as 'a robust brand of the future'. 'We do think Domino's still has growth ahead of it. Quite significantly so,' Faul said. Aitken said there was still a 'huge mass market' for Domino's products. 'The demise of Domino's as a product is not apparent to us,' he said. 'We think backing the No.1 [quick-service restaurant] money-maker over 50 years, when he has no friends, is a great time to back Jack Cowin and Domino's.' Turning things around could take three years. 'Jack might be in his 80s but he is hands-on and can fix this with the right team.'
Sydney Morning Herald
3 days ago
- Business
- Sydney Morning Herald
Fast food fixer: 83-year-old Hungry Jack wants a five-minute plan for Domino's Pizza
But the conditions for success during that era were some of the best the pizza chain could have wished for. COVID-19 lockdowns keeping everyone at home created huge – but temporary – demand for food delivery. Fast-food customers and investors alike were grabbing a slice of Domino's, which reached a share price record high of nearly $160 in September 2021. Since then, however, it hasn't capitalised on their flash-in-the-pan success. Pizza sales have stalled. Profit predictions were downgraded three times in a year. 'It has been this huge growth story for a long time. The last two or three years hasn't [delivered] any growth,' said investment banking firm Barrenjoey's head of consumer research, Tom Kierath. Investors fled the stock after van Dyck's resignation was announced, sending the share price to little over a tenth of that peak to $16.96. Cowin was aware of the need to reassure rattled shareholders, with van Dyck's departure coming so soon after Meij's. The billionaire businessman has a personal stake – 25.7 per cent – in fixing this. 'The business has got to do better. We're custodians of other people's money,' he said. 'But to make this business successful, we have to have growth, and we have to do it now, rather than on a long-term basis.' What's gone wrong at Domino's? Domino's problems didn't appear overnight. Many of the competitive edges that once made it a market leader have eroded over years. Meij sought to make Domino's website and app best-in-class, spending nearly $23 million in half a year alone on digital platforms. The investment doesn't appear to have generated high returns. 'You had the Peloton bubble, you had the Lululemon bubble with everyone buying casual wear, and we had this Domino's bubble because they were digitally well advanced beyond anyone else,' said food industry consultant and Titanium Food director Suzee Brain. 'That gave them inflated confidence that they were the new flavour of the month. So they started some really massive expansion off the back of a false economy.' The rapid store roll-out across Europe and Asia, once a major sales driver, was reversing. In Australia, Domino's couldn't keep the sales spurt they enjoyed during the pandemic. 'They weren't able to keep a lot of those customers, because there's another problem: the product is not all that great,' said Brain. 'They've never marketed it because they make great pizza … But now, it actually needs to be about the pizza.' Domino's is now facing a more competitive and diverse fast-food landscape, where players such as Guzman y Gomez and El Jannah are attracting younger customers and US chains Five Guys and Wingstop are keen for their slice of the market. As Australia's dominant pizza chain, industry watchers believe Domino's must advocate more effectively for the entire pizza category. Loading 'As part of your, 'what we do for the kids, for a family eating Sunday evening dinner' [considerations], does Domino's become part of the conversation more than it currently is? That's the opportunity,' said one industry analyst who declined to be named. The business must become more profitable, Cowin has told investors. Ideally, this would happen through a sales uplift, but as there's no guarantee of that, costs need to be pulled out of the business. As delivery aggregators Uber Eats and DoorDash eat Domino's lunch, IT spending has been an early target. 'Our technology is not any better than the Uber's and the other people that we have to deal with,' said Cowin. 'If you don't have a competitive advantage, let's stop trying to recreate the wheel.' Franchisee profitability is now a key priority for Domino's, with weekly store sales ranging from $30,000 a week to $100,000, Cowin revealed. But margins were eroded by the spurt of high inflation across ingredients such as cheese as well as wages, fuel and electricity. Meij tried to pass this on by imposing a 6 per cent delivery fee, which backfired with customers who punished the move by buying fewer pizzas. 'Relative price point becomes very important,' said Ten Cap co-founder and lead portfolio manager Jun Bei Liu. 'This price increase for the fast food category was just so wrong.' Several fund managers, stock pickers and analysts believe at least some dead weight needs to be shed. Domino's should sell France and exit Japan, said outspoken stockbroker Angus Aitken. Barrenjoey's Keirath agrees. 'If they get Taiwan, right, is it going to move the dial? No, it's becoming a distraction. The same in Malaysia,' he said. 'What you do by staying in those markets is you dilute the core markets.' Who's up for the job? Recruitment is under way for Van Dyck's replacement. But they will have to be someone who will have to play by the rules laid out by Cowin, who has made it clear he wants to see rapid change. Loading 'If you have a strong chair in place [who has] already said to the market, 'well, that guy is not there because he's not delivering on costs', then the next person has to subscribe to that view,' said Ten Cap's Liu. 'When you have to focus on costs, you got to be a tough person. You can't be a nice guy.' And there are plenty who think Domino's is still a good deal, such as Morningstar equity analyst Johannes Faul, who said the leadership instability has injected uncertainty in the short-term but described the pizza chain as 'a robust brand of the future'. 'We do think Domino's still has growth ahead of it. Quite significantly so,' Faul said. Aitken said there was still a 'huge mass market' for Domino's products. 'The demise of Domino's as a product is not apparent to us,' he said. 'We think backing the number one [quick-service restaurant] money-maker over 50 years, when he has no friends, is a great time to back Jack Cowin and Domino's.' Turning things around could take three years. 'Jack might be in his 80s, but is hands-on and can fix this with the right team.'
The Age
3 days ago
- Business
- The Age
Fast food fixer: 83-year-old Hungry Jack wants a five-minute plan for Domino's Pizza
But the conditions for success during that era were some of the best the pizza chain could have wished for. COVID-19 lockdowns keeping everyone at home created huge – but temporary – demand for food delivery. Fast-food customers and investors alike were grabbing a slice of Domino's, which reached a share price record high of nearly $160 in September 2021. Since then, however, it hasn't capitalised on their flash-in-the-pan success. Pizza sales have stalled. Profit predictions were downgraded three times in a year. 'It has been this huge growth story for a long time. The last two or three years hasn't [delivered] any growth,' said investment banking firm Barrenjoey's head of consumer research, Tom Kierath. Investors fled the stock after van Dyck's resignation was announced, sending the share price to little over a tenth of that peak to $16.96. Cowin was aware of the need to reassure rattled shareholders, with van Dyck's departure coming so soon after Meij's. The billionaire businessman has a personal stake – 25.7 per cent – in fixing this. 'The business has got to do better. We're custodians of other people's money,' he said. 'But to make this business successful, we have to have growth, and we have to do it now, rather than on a long-term basis.' What's gone wrong at Domino's? Domino's problems didn't appear overnight. Many of the competitive edges that once made it a market leader have eroded over years. Meij sought to make Domino's website and app best-in-class, spending nearly $23 million in half a year alone on digital platforms. The investment doesn't appear to have generated high returns. 'You had the Peloton bubble, you had the Lululemon bubble with everyone buying casual wear, and we had this Domino's bubble because they were digitally well advanced beyond anyone else,' said food industry consultant and Titanium Food director Suzee Brain. 'That gave them inflated confidence that they were the new flavour of the month. So they started some really massive expansion off the back of a false economy.' The rapid store roll-out across Europe and Asia, once a major sales driver, was reversing. In Australia, Domino's couldn't keep the sales spurt they enjoyed during the pandemic. 'They weren't able to keep a lot of those customers, because there's another problem: the product is not all that great,' said Brain. 'They've never marketed it because they make great pizza … But now, it actually needs to be about the pizza.' Domino's is now facing a more competitive and diverse fast-food landscape, where players such as Guzman y Gomez and El Jannah are attracting younger customers and US chains Five Guys and Wingstop are keen for their slice of the market. As Australia's dominant pizza chain, industry watchers believe Domino's must advocate more effectively for the entire pizza category. Loading 'As part of your, 'what we do for the kids, for a family eating Sunday evening dinner' [considerations], does Domino's become part of the conversation more than it currently is? That's the opportunity,' said one industry analyst who declined to be named. The business must become more profitable, Cowin has told investors. Ideally, this would happen through a sales uplift, but as there's no guarantee of that, costs need to be pulled out of the business. As delivery aggregators Uber Eats and DoorDash eat Domino's lunch, IT spending has been an early target. 'Our technology is not any better than the Uber's and the other people that we have to deal with,' said Cowin. 'If you don't have a competitive advantage, let's stop trying to recreate the wheel.' Franchisee profitability is now a key priority for Domino's, with weekly store sales ranging from $30,000 a week to $100,000, Cowin revealed. But margins were eroded by the spurt of high inflation across ingredients such as cheese as well as wages, fuel and electricity. Meij tried to pass this on by imposing a 6 per cent delivery fee, which backfired with customers who punished the move by buying fewer pizzas. 'Relative price point becomes very important,' said Ten Cap co-founder and lead portfolio manager Jun Bei Liu. 'This price increase for the fast food category was just so wrong.' Several fund managers, stock pickers and analysts believe at least some dead weight needs to be shed. Domino's should sell France and exit Japan, said outspoken stockbroker Angus Aitken. Barrenjoey's Keirath agrees. 'If they get Taiwan, right, is it going to move the dial? No, it's becoming a distraction. The same in Malaysia,' he said. 'What you do by staying in those markets is you dilute the core markets.' Who's up for the job? Recruitment is under way for Van Dyck's replacement. But they will have to be someone who will have to play by the rules laid out by Cowin, who has made it clear he wants to see rapid change. Loading 'If you have a strong chair in place [who has] already said to the market, 'well, that guy is not there because he's not delivering on costs', then the next person has to subscribe to that view,' said Ten Cap's Liu. 'When you have to focus on costs, you got to be a tough person. You can't be a nice guy.' And there are plenty who think Domino's is still a good deal, such as Morningstar equity analyst Johannes Faul, who said the leadership instability has injected uncertainty in the short-term but described the pizza chain as 'a robust brand of the future'. 'We do think Domino's still has growth ahead of it. Quite significantly so,' Faul said. Aitken said there was still a 'huge mass market' for Domino's products. 'The demise of Domino's as a product is not apparent to us,' he said. 'We think backing the number one [quick-service restaurant] money-maker over 50 years, when he has no friends, is a great time to back Jack Cowin and Domino's.' Turning things around could take three years. 'Jack might be in his 80s, but is hands-on and can fix this with the right team.'
Sky News AU
02-07-2025
- Business
- Sky News AU
Domino's Pizza CEO Mark van Dyck calls it quits after eight months as share prices fall dramatically leaving company in strife
The CEO and managing director of Domino's, Mark van Dyck, has made a shock departure from the popular food chain after just eight months at the helm. His resignation comes as Domino's shares plummeted to 17.6 per cent since the stock market opened at 10am, adding to the company's share losses of 50 per cent over the last 12 months. Mr van Dyck is due to leave the company on December 23, after he replaced Domino's long-term chief executive and managing director Don Meij in November last year. The reason behind Mr van Dyck's departure is not yet known. Chairman Jack Cowin, 83, will now take over executive duties of the multi-billion-dollar pizza chain. 'To support a smooth and effective transition, chairman Jack Cowin will assume the role of executive chair on an interim basis, effective immediately, to work with Mr van Dyck and the executive team over the coming months,' the company said on Wednesday. 'Mark has made a valuable contribution to Domino's during a period of significant operational reset. With the strategic foundations now firmly in place, this transition enables a new CEO to take Domino's to its next stage of growth,' Cowin added. Domino's was in the process of a major business restructure much of which had been led by Mr van Dyck after he stepped into the leadership role. Those plans have now been left in disarray as he exits the company. In February Domino's fronted the ASX and announced it would be shutting down 205 of its unprofitable stores globally in a bid to improve the company's long-term profitability. The move was expected to save the struggling company approximately $15.5 million, but stock fell 12 per cent on the same day of the announcement. At the time Mr van Dyck said the "decisive action" was necessary for the Domino's to reach its "potential". 'Some of our Covid-period expansion resulted in stores that simply weren't optimal based on our current customer proposition, and removing them will strengthen our network," he said previously. 'Where change is required, we are acting quickly and transparently. 'Our priority remains clear, creating value for customers, franchise partners, and shareholders." Domino's has suffered considerable losses in recent years following Covid-19 and its expansion of franchises into Japan which was not met with heightened popularity as expected. Following his resignation, Van Dyk said: "It has been a privilege to lead Domino's through a transformative period." 'With a clear strategy and strong team in place, I believe the time will be right at the end of this calendar year to hand over to the next CEO. My focus in the months ahead will be on supporting a smooth transition.'
Perth Now
02-07-2025
- Business
- Perth Now
Domino's boss shock resignation
Domino's Pizza Australia Enterprise announced group chief executive and managing director Mark van Dyck has announced his intentions to step away from the company just before Christmas. In a shocking announcement, Mr van Dyck will step away from the board on December 23, having only taken over from long-serving chief executive Don Meij in November. 'The board has initiated a global search process to appoint a new group CEO to lead the business through its next phase of growth,' Domino's said. Domino's Australia announced its chief executive has resigned. NewsWire / Sarah Marshall Credit: News Corp Australia Mr van Dyck said it was a privilege to lead Domino's through this transition period. 'With a clear strategy and strong team in place, I believe the time will be right at the end of this calendar year to hand over to the next chief executive,' he said. 'My focus in the months ahead will be on supporting a smooth transition.' As part of the transition, chairman Jack Cowin will assume the role of executive chair on an interim basis, effective immediately and work with Mr van Dyck and the executive team over the coming months. 'Mark has made a valuable contribution to Domino's during a period of significant operational reset,' Mr Cowin said in a statement on the ASX. 'With the strategic foundations now firmly in place, this transition enables a new CEO to take Domino's to its next stage of growth. 'I look forward to supporting the executive team during this important phase.' Mr van Dyck leaving follows Australian and New Zealand chief executive Kerri Hayman announcing her resignation. NewsWire / Sarah Marshall Credit: News Corp Australia Mr van Dyck leaving comes just a month after Domino's Pizza Australia and New Zealand chief executive Kerri Hayman abruptly resigned after just nine most in the top job. In a statement at the time from the pizza chain to the ASX, Ms Hayman, who is the sister of former Domino's group chief Don Meij, said it was the right time to take the next step in her journey. Ms Hayman will remain in the role through to August 29, as she looks to support the leadership transition and helps to deliver on Domino's strategic plans.
