Domino's Australia CEO Steps Down as Weak Sales Send Shares Tumbling

Domino's Pizza Enterprises, the largest franchise operator of the brand outside the U.S., announced today that CEO Don Meij is stepping down after leading the company for over 20 years. This news caused the company's shares to fluctuate in early trading, dropping significantly by 6% to A$31.67 (US$20.84) as of 00:21 GMT on July 29, 2022.

The publicly listed company in Australia also reported a decline of 1.2% in same-store sales across the group over the first 17 weeks of the fiscal year 2025. Sales in Germany, Japan, and France experienced a particular downturn.

Meij, who began his career as a delivery driver at a pizzeria in Queensland which later became part of Domino's Australia, rose to the CEO position in 2002. Under his leadership, the company went public in 2005 and expanded to 12 countries, becoming Australia's first publicly listed pizza chain.

Despite global expansion, the company is struggling to maintain sales, especially in Japan, during the post-COVID period. Due to weak sales and high costs in Japan, ambitious growth plans have been scaled back.

At its peak in September 2021, Domino's Pizza was valued at A$14.46 billion. However, as of November 4, 2022, this valuation has fallen to A$3.12 billion.

Analysts at Jefferies acknowledged Meij's significant contributions but viewed his resignation as a positive step for the business. They indicated that this transition would allow for necessary changes to improve unit economics and restore growth.

Mark van Dyck, the current Managing Director for Asia-Pacific at Compass Group, will take over as CEO of Domino's Pizza Enterprises starting November 6, 2022. Van Dyck, who has also been advising Domino's board for the past year, is expected to face challenges in managing franchise relationships and enhancing profitability, according to E&P Financial's retail analyst Phillip Kimber.

The exchange rate at the time of the report was $1 = 1.5200 Australian dollars.