It’s rare for publicly traded restaurant chains to call out struggling franchisees specifically, but that’s exactly what Domino’s did on Monday during its fourth-quarter earnings call.
“Our international business has generally tracked in line with the goals we set forth back at our investor day in late 2023,” Domino’s CEO Russell Weiner said, “apart from Domino’s Pizza Enterprises.”
Domino’s Pizza Enterprises, or DPE, is Domino’s largest franchisee, with 3,500 locations in several global markets, including Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, Cambodia and parts of Europe, including Germany and France. That’s close to one out of four of Domino’s international locations.
And its struggles have definitely held back the chain’s international business. DPE last year reported the first annual loss in the company’s 20-year history as a publicly traded company. The CEO who led the operator that entire time retired in late 2024 and was replaced with a new CEO who retired just eight months later.
Earlier this month, DPE announced its newest CEO in Andrew Gregory, a former McDonald’s executive, who will not be able to start until August.
Amid this, DPE announced the closure of more than 300 locations, most of them in Japan, as part of a “reset.” The operator’s stock—DPE is one of a number of publicly traded international Domino’s operators—has fallen by 23% over the past year.
Despite this, Domino’s international business generated sales growth last year, on both a same-store and absolute basis. Global system sales grew 5.9% in 2025—stronger than the company’s domestic business—while same-store sales grew 1.9%, including 0.7% in the fourth quarter.
Discount DPE, however, and same-store sales would have risen 3%, which was in line with Domino’s long-term plans.
“Getting the DPE business back on track remains a top priority as it is key for us in order to return to our international algorithm,” Weiner said.
Domino’s executives believe that DPE’s closures are in the rear-view mirror and expect that international unit growth will return to its historic strength this year as a result.
Weiner said the company is “encouraged” by the hiring of Gregory as the CEO, believing that he will help turn the operator around to get the company’s international business back in line with expectations. Weiner called Gregory “a well-qualified global QSR executive” who “brings more than 30 years of QSR experience to the role.”
Weiner also said that Sandeep Reddy, Domino’s CFO, along with Weiking Ng, the chain’s EVP of international, will be heading to Australia to meet with DPE executives.
“We’re on the phone tops-to-tops all the time and we’re working with them to turn around that business,” Weiner said. “It’s an important part of our growth.”
Weiner noted that, in Australia alone, Domino’s owns a 40% to 50% share of the pizza market. “We’re working from a place of strength in Australia,” he said.
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