Its first-half net profit after tax (NPAT) fell 21.5% to A$71.7 million, missing Jefferies forecast of A$77.7 million.
"Annualising first half NPAT would imply fiscal 2023 NPAT of A$144 million which would be well below consensus of A$166 million. This seems optimistic though, given deteriorating momentum," Jefferies said.
Soaring inflation and the subsequent cost of living pressures since last year - from soaring power bills to nine interest rate hikes since last May - were continuing to hurt consumer spending. "While price hikes were successful in protecting franchisee profitability, however, given the speed of the change, it was difficult to forecast the effect on customer repurchasing rates, especially where customers order less frequently such as Japan or Germany ," Chief Executive Officer Don Meji said.
The 3,736-store global franchise said that sales growth in the beginning of second half has slowed down faster than anticipated due to a fall in repeat purchases from consumers as the company hiked its prices to combat surging inflation.
While overall sales grew 4.2% in the beginning of fiscal 2023, same-store sales fell 2.2% and would be below the medium term outlook of 3-6% growth due to tumultuous trading conditions, the company said.
The pizza chain also cut its interim dividend by 24% to 67.4
Australian cents per share.
The company posted a 4.3% drop in revenue to A$1.15 billion.
($1 = 1.4635 Australian dollars)
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(Reporting by Tejaswi Marthi in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi
Aich)
