The pizza chain Domino’s Pizza Inc. reported an increase in net profit and revenue in the first quarter of 2024, both of which were better than market forecasts.
According to the company’s press release, its net profit in January-March amounted to $125.8 million compared to $104.8 million in the same period a year earlier. Earnings per share increased to $3.58 from $2.93.
Meanwhile, revenue increased by 6% to $1.085 billion from $1.02 billion.
Analysts surveyed by FactSet had on average forecasted earnings of $3.40 per share on revenue of $1.08 billion.
Comparable sales of Domino’s in the United States grew by 5.6% last quarter and by 0.9% globally, according to the report.
Domino’s share prices are up 4.6% in pre-market trading on Monday. Since the beginning of the year, the company’s capitalization has increased by 21% to $17.38 billion.
45% of Ukrainians consider their vacation in 2024 to be untimely, while 36% plan to spend time with family or friends in Ukraine or abroad.
This is evidenced by the results of an online survey conducted by Rakuten Viber on April 26 among more than 36 thousand users.
At the same time, it is reported that in 2023, during a similar survey, 68% of respondents called the vacation untimely, and the percentage of those wishing to rest has increased over the year.
“25% are planning a vacation in Ukraine (in 2023 – 10%), another 11% want to go abroad (in 2023 – 6%). Every fifth respondent (19%) plans to take a few days off during the year (16% in 2023),” the press release on the survey results says.
In January-March 2024, Ukrgasvydobuvannya JSC increased gas production by 12% compared to the same period in 2023, Naftogaz reports on its website without specifying the final figure.
“This is the result of the launch of new productive wells, as well as effective work with the old stock. Our goal is to maintain this trend and reach production growth by the end of the year,” Naftogaz CEO Oleksiy Chernyshev said in a statement.
According to him, traditionally, the highest production rates are in the east of the country, but in the west and central regions, the plan was also exceeded.
“Every gas production department of Ukrgasvydobuvannya, despite the shelling and sometimes even the lack of electricity supply, is meeting the gas production targets for this year. At the same time, there are risks, we understand that there may be shelling. However, the company will do everything possible to continue to meet the country’s needs,” added the company’s CEO Oleh Tolmachov.
As reported, in 2022, UGV produced 12.5 bcm of natural gas (commercial), which is 3% less than in 2021. At the end of 2023, the company’s commercial gas production amounted to 13.224 billion cubic meters, which is 0.679 billion cubic meters more than in 2022.
NJSC Naftogaz of Ukraine owns 100% of Ukrgasvydobuvannya shares.
The Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense of Australia, Richard Marles, has announced another $100 million package of military assistance to Ukraine.
“Australia will stay with Ukraine for as long as it takes for Ukraine to win this war. To this end, we are today announcing another $100 million package of assistance to Ukraine. $50 million of this amount will be spent on short-range air defense systems, another $30 million will be spent on the purchase of drones, as Australia is part of the Drone Coalition with the UK and Latvia. The remainder will be used to purchase support equipment, from inflatable boats to helmets and boots,” Marles said at a joint briefing with Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal in Lviv on Saturday.
He added that Australia was also able to provide Ukraine with air-to-ground munitions.
The United Arab Emirates and Ukraine concluded an economic agreement aimed at increasing their bilateral trade, which has fallen sharply from its pre-war level.
Non-oil trade between the two countries reached $386 million last year, down from more than $800 million before the Kremlin’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Thani Al-Zeyoudi, the UAE’s minister of state for foreign trade, said in an interview. The fall in trade is not specific to the Gulf nation, and similar trends with Ukraine since the start of the war can be seen across the globe, he said.
The agreement finalizes a trade pact that was announced two years ago, and is part of the UAE’s goal of growing its non-oil foreign trade with multiple nations. The deal aims to alleviate or remove tariffs on some products, and strengthen supply chains to the wider region for major exports such as grains, machinery and metals, according to a statement on the agreement released Monday.
Kyiv estimates the accord may boost Ukraine’s gross domestic product by 0.1% in the medium- to long-term, the Economy Ministry said in a statement on its website.
“Ukraine is a bridge for our exports to Europe, and an important source for our imports related to food security,” Al-Zeyoudi said in the statement. The agreement “will provide Ukrainian companies and entrepreneurs with a new platform that allows them to expand towards growth markets in Asia and Africa through the UAE.”
Al-Zeyoudi said the pact would “play an active role in revitalizing the Ukrainian economy, and would provide new opportunities for the business communities of the two friendly countries.”
“It is not a classic free trade agreement, it is comprehensive, and it includes goods, services, investments, digital trade, and so on,” Ukrainian Economic Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said. The ministry said it expects exports of metals and vegetable oil to rise as a result of the deal.
Joint investment between the two countries reached $360 million in 2022 across several sectors including logistics and infrastructure, travel and tourism, and technology, according to the statement.
The energy-rich UAE has been signing similar pacts with several countries it is targeting for trade growth such as India, Israel and Turkey. In 2021, the Gulf country said it planned to deepen its trade ties in fast-growing economies by drawing $150 billion in foreign investments.
The UAE has maintained ties with both Ukraine and Russia since the start of the Kremlin’s invasion. The Gulf nation’s business capital Dubai has been a destination for both Russians and Ukrainians.
All checkpoints on the Ukrainian-Polish border were unblocked on Sunday night, Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food Mykola Solsky said.
“We express our gratitude to the Polish Ministry for their constructive work on unblocking the border, as well as to the industry associations of both countries. The ongoing negotiations were not easy, but the main thing is that we have a result,” the press service of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy quoted him as saying at the online talks on Monday.
According to the report, negotiations between the ministries and associations will continue. The parties agreed to exchange monthly figures on the transit of agricultural products to monitor the situation.
The next meeting of the agriculture ministers of Ukraine and Poland is scheduled for May 7. They will discuss the terms of cooperation between the agricultural sectors of the two countries in the summer.
