DP Poland: New management look towards a 500 store target

Dominos Pizza Poland is listed on the Aim market of the London Stock Exchange and has a market capitalisation of £62m. The company owns the Dominos master franchise for Poland and Croatia. They operate 139 Dominos stores, 132 in Poland and 7 in Croatia. The company also owns the Pizzeria 105 brand with 70 locations and is in the process of converting these stores to Dominos

New CEO Lukas Ostrowski was joined by CFO Edward Kacyrz, at the HY26 results presentation. Much of the presentation focused on the opportunity to accelerate growth through increasing order volumes and the continued transition towards a franchise-led business model. A recording of the webinar can be found here.

Ostrowski, who recently joined the business, believes DP Poland is approaching an important stage in its development. Domino’s International regards Poland as one of its top eight growth markets globally and management continues to see substantial scope to expand the network. The long-term ambition remains to build a predominantly franchised network of around 500 profitable Domino’s stores in Poland.

The new CEO has identified two immediate priorities: increasing the number of profitable orders and accelerating franchise-led growth. Customer acquisition remains encouraging, with new customer numbers growing by close to 20% year-on-year during the first half. Management now wants to combine higher order volumes with improved ticket values and profitability.

Technology will play an important role. A new app and website are expected to launch by the end of 2026, improving conversion rates and encouraging repeat orders. Management is also developing a stronger carry-out proposition, an area where Domino’s has faced greater competition, while more sophisticated customer segmentation, menu pricing and targeted offers should help increase order density.

The transition towards a franchise-led model continues to progress well. Franchise stores are achieving better operating KPIs than corporate-owned stores, benefiting from greater local ownership and operational focus. Franchise penetration in Poland has increased from just 7% in 2023 to 38% at H1 2026, and management has brought forward the 50% target to the end of 2026.  Encouragingly, some corporate stores are now being sold for cash rather than through vendor financing, while two franchisees are close to securing bank finance.

Converting the acquired Pizza 105 estate remains a key priority for the group. Eighteen stores have so far been converted, generating an average order uplift of around 20%, although performance has varied significantly between franchisees. Management acknowledged that the initial conversion process attempted to change too much too quickly. The approach is therefore being revised, with Pizza 105 operators moving towards the full Domino’s model in stages, allowing them more time to adapt to areas such as fresh food, inventory management, delivery and staffing. Management believes this should improve the success rate and allow conversions to accelerate again.

Beyond Pizza 105, the next major growth driver will be new franchise openings. The current cost of opening a standard Domino’s store is approximately £200,000 and management is working to reduce this materially without compromising either product quality or the customer experience. Lessons from other successful Domino’s markets are being examined to identify lower-cost store formats and operating practices that can be transferred to Poland.

Cash remains relatively tight and will require careful management over the next 12–24 months, but management stated that it does not currently expect to require a further fundraise. Significant commissary investment has now been completed, providing capacity for around 300 stores, while DP Poland does not intend to open further corporate stores. Increasing cash proceeds from franchise disposals should also help support the balance sheet.

Looking ahead, management remains confident in the scale of the opportunity. Poland has a large, growing and fragmented pizza market, while Domino’s remains relatively underpenetrated. The strategy is increasingly focused on creating a virtuous circle: grow profitable orders, convert corporate and Pizza 105 stores to franchise ownership, reduce the cost of opening new stores and use this to accelerate franchise expansion towards the long-term target of around 500 stores. A recording of the webinar can be found here.