Paul Hickman at KBC Peel Hunt commended “Domino’s marketing excellence” and also cited shrewd business moves such as the company’s high profile sponsorship of the hit ITV1 show Britain’s Got Talent as contributing to the success of the brand.

It has even been suggested that Swine Flu will further boost sales for Domino’s as more and more people are quarantined in their homes and forced to rely upon take away options. A Domino’s spokeswoman was quoted as saying that the Swine Flu outbreak had had a “positive impact” on sales in Mexico where the virus first took hold.

A combination of insightful advertising campaigns and the lure of discounts have contributed to the overall sales increase which saw profits jump by 15.4% to £196.4 million in a mere 6 months. A staggering 40% increase in online sales was also reported painting a very glowing picture of the franchise company.

Top city analysts have been forced to raise their estimates after shares for Domino’s gained almost 5% today to 230p. One such analyst even predicted pre-tax profits for Domino’s tripling by 2017.

With or without the aid of Swine Flu, the pizza giant is on a roll which leading experts predict will last the course.

Profits at takeaway and delivery pizza giant Domino’s have rocketed by almost a quarter in another sign that families hit by the credit crunch are abandoning restaurants for cheaper stay at home meals.

Domino’s Pizza, which has 572 stores in the UK and Ireland run on a franchise basis, said people wanted to ‘trade down’ from going out for a meal, but were unwilling to give up entirely on luxuries.

It said profits rose to £23.4million in the 52 weeks to December 28, and it had an ‘exceptional’ start to 2009 with like-for-like sales for the first six weeks up 15%.

The chain said it grew at a rate of a store a week in 2008 and it was planning to open a further 50 outlets this year, creating another 1,500 jobs in the UK and Ireland.

The news comes amid a boom for fast food outlets after fried chicken chain KFC said it was planning to expand its business, which would create up to 9,000 jobs over the next five years.

Burger chain McDonald’s also said last year was its ‘strongest ever’ in the UK, despite the economic downturn.

The company also announced it had a broadening customer base, with a third of the 2.7million people it delivered to last year being new customers.

But chief executive Chris Moore sounded a note of caution.

He said: ‘While we are delighted with this performance, we face some very tough comparatives and an unpredictable economic environment.’

He added this year’s store opening programme was ‘well under way’ and he was ‘confident that we are well positioned for another year of strong growth’.

Domino’s, which holds the master franchise to own, operate and lease out Domino’s Pizza outlets in the UK and Ireland, said its ‘aggressive expansion programme’ meant it was on track to exceed its target of 1,000 stores in the next 10 years.

Online sales at the chain rose 73.7 per cent to £55.9million, bolstered by some record weekends where sales exceeded £1million.

Founded in 1960, Domino’s has more than 8,700 stores in over 60 countries.

KFC, which currently employs around 20,000 people in its 760 British stores, said it would invest £150million in opening between 200 and 300 new restaurants.

The company reported a 14 per cent rise in sales.

Sandwich chain Subway has also announced plans to open another 600 stores, creating around 7,000 jobs.

Martin Shuker, KFC UK chief executive, told The Independent: ‘There aren’t many companies who can be so positive in this market so we are delighted to be able to announced this significant investment.

‘Our growth strategy demonstrates the strong demand from out customers; consumers clearly still want great quality food but at reasonable prices and that is exactly what we provide.’

The Pizza delivery chain has seen its online ordering sales double in the space of two year taking 11% of the market compared to 28% in the first quarter of 2009, this was according to the NPD Group’s Consumer Reports on Eating Share Trends (CREST). Russell Weiner, Chief Marketing Officer for Domino’s explains that then online site has contributed greatly to the success of the company he said it has “become a tremendous growth engine for Domino’s pizza and the face of our brand for many of our most valued customers.”

Not one to let the grass grow under their feet, Domino’s are keen to capitalise on their new found online popularity. They are currently offering an incentive to customers giving away $10 gift card to the first 499 people who email in with their name and mailing details explaining why they like ordering Domino’s Pizza online.

With the rising popularity of their Domino’s site, combined with their outstanding customer service, it’s  fair to say that’s Domino’s Pizza is bucking the economic trend and flourishing in the fast food industry.