(AP) -- Shares of pizza delivery company Domino's Pizza Inc. jumped Tuesday after the chain reported its second-quarter profit soared, helped by one-time costs that sunk profit in the year-ago quarter and strong international sales.
Its stock gained $2.24, or 21.6 percent, to end at $12.63.
Before the market opened, the company said its profit rose far above its results in the 2007 second quarter, which was weighed down by recapitalization charges and legal expenses.
Once one-time costs were excluded from both current and year-ago figures, the company's profit actually fell to 22 cents per share from 28 cents per share. That figure is one-cent per share shy of Wall Street analysts' expectations, according to a poll by Thomson Financial.
Overall sales fell 2 percent but the company still beat analysts' estimates by about $2.1 million.
The company's strength proved to be in its international division, where same-store sales rose 7 percent. Same-store sales, or sales at locations open at least a year, is a key indicator of retailer performance since it measures growth at existing stores rather than newly-opened ones.
Domestic same-store sales dropped 5.4 percent. Dominos blamed the U.S. sales slowdown on the soft economy.
Cowen and Co. analyst Colin Guheen said in a note to investors that Dominos international division was "taking advantage of the fact that the international pizza delivery market, unlike the U.S., is far from saturated."
Guheen has a "Neutral" rating on the shares.
Copyright 2008 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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