”Just that little bit of extra attention to detail, heightening it that little bit more, where customers are telling us that these are the best pizzas that I’ve had in a while, I’m really enjoying that. They’re coming to us, they’re ordering more often, which is obviously what we want.“

Domino’s is at pains to demonstrate it has turned the corner on a bumpy few years in the Australian and international markets. Meij was forced to slash 200 jobs and reverse a 6 per cent delivery fee that was unpopular with customers and sent profits tumbling.

Meanwhile, growth ambitions in France, Japan, Italy and Malaysia have not gone to plan, and earlier this year it was forced to reveal its fourth profit downgrade in three years.

However, in the 2024 fiscal year the ASX-listed pizza maker’s global sales rose 4.6 per cent to $4 billion, with a similar 4.5 per cent rise in earnings to $362.7 million. Net profit sank 1.9 per cent to $120.4 million.

The Australian business, which has nearly 900 stores, had a 10.4 per cent improvement in underlying earnings to $124.1 million, representing the strongest same store growth (7.9 per cent) in seven years. Average franchise store profitability has risen 6.7 per cent to $97,400.

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After shuttering more than a dozen underperforming stores, the pizza chain is eyeing new store openings in the current financial year.

The European business’ underlying earnings rose 33.8 per cent to $70.7 million, with Germany performing well, while France underperformed. The company has announced a final dividend of 50.4¢ a share.

Investors appeared unimpressed with the results, sending the share price 1.4 per cent lower after see-sawing throughout the day. Domino’s share price has lost more than 44 per cent of its value since the beginning of the year.

InvestorHub co-chief Ben Williamson said the change of leadership was a “new opportunity for Domino’s to engage a fundamentally different market” to when Meij took over in 2002, pointing to the excitement generated by burrito maker Guzman y Gomez’ blockbuster ASX debut.

While he said Meij had done an excellent job at engaging shareholders with his direct, engaged and transparent leadership style, he questioned whether time was up on the “traditional” approach.

“How is [Guzman y Gomez] valued almost the same as a company pulling profits almost 20 times larger? Quite simply: it has a better story in the market that is, crucially, driving a lot of investment from retail investors and advocacy from VCs,” Williamson said in a note.

“Meij’s approach may have made Domino’s a market darling up to 2021, but GYG’s fresh, energetic approach, along with a CEO who looks happier in a hoodie than a suit and tie, may represent a crucial lesson for businesses looking to excite investors going forward.”

While Hayman has spent nearly four decades in the Domino’s business, her career trajectory has not mimicked Meij’s, having spent more than a decade in the UK and US.

“We’re both massive Dominoids. We both love the brand,” she said. “We kind of have our own spaces that we exist in, but we grow at the same time, and we learned a lot off each other.”

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