Domino’s Pizza Enterprises CEO Resigned, Says Executive Chair
Van Dyck formulated a five-year turnaround plan for the business and oversaw the closure of 205 underperforming stores in Europe, Japan, Australia and New Zealand.
Domino’s Pizza Enterprises Ltd.’s outgoing Group Chief Executive and Managing Director Mark van Dyck chose to resign and wasn’t pushed out, the company’s billionaire interim Executive Chairman Jack Cowin said on an investor call.
Van Dyck formulated a five-year turnaround plan for the business and oversaw the closure of 205 underperforming stores in Europe, Japan, Australia and New Zealand. The board supported the plan but wanted to act more swiftly than van Dyck, Cowin said Thursday.
“This was Mark’s decision to resign, he was not pushed or asked to leave,” Cowin said.
There was no strategic difference with van Dyck other than the board wanted “to see the results improve faster,” he added.
The Brisbane, Australia-based company’s stock gained 2.18% in Sydney on Thursday, after falling to its lowest since 2014 the day before.
Cowin, who was previously the firm’s chairman, took on his new role Wednesday as the company announced van Dyck will step down in December after just one year as group chief executive.
Van Dyck’s departure comes after an overhaul of the firm’s global leadership in the past year. He succeeded CEO and Managing Director Don Meij, who had been with Domino’s for almost 40 years, in November.
The board is undertaking a global search process for a new group CEO.
After four years of “flat results,” the company hoped to post a sales-driven recovery with 3% annual same-store sales growth, Cowin said.
“This company is not in disarray,” added Cowin, its biggest shareholder.
Cowin is also the chairman and managing director of CFAL Group, operator of the Hungry Jack’s chain, which holds the master franchise for Burger King in Australia.
Citigroup analyst Sam Teeger downgraded Domino’s to sell from neutral earlier Thursday.
“We expect a period of strategic uncertainty until a new CEO replacement is found,” he wrote in a note to clients.
Barrenjoey, meanwhile, upgraded the stock to overweight from neutral, saying the valuation was now compelling, given the company was trading at its lowest price-to-earnings multiple in its 20-year history.
