The UK arm of pizza delivery firm Domino's has unveiled a sharp increase in profits and sales, bucking recent gloomy trends in corporate earnings.

The firm said on Wednesday that pre-tax profits for the six months to late June soared 45.6% compared with the same period last year to �1.72m, while sales jumped 24.6% to �57.8m.

The company's latest results reinforce the view that the fortunes of the home-delivered food sector are inversely related to those of the wider economy.

Domino UK chief executive Stephen Helmsley said earlier this year that his business may be 'counter-cyclical," with newly cost-conscious consumers trading down from restaurants to home-delivered food during economic downturns.

Need the dough?

Mr Helmsley on Wednesday also credited his firm's recent success to its commitment to fresh dough and ingredients, saying "this is what truly distinguishes our pizza."

Domino said its progress in absorbing infrastructure costs and increased royalty payments to its parent company in the US should lead to further buoyant profit increases in the months ahead.

"I...look forward with great optimism to our maintaining the progress achieved in the first half of the year, " Mr Helmsley said in a statement.

Domino UK opened 18 new stores during the last six months, bringing its total in the UK and Ireland to 258.

The firm aims to bring the total up to 500 by 2006.

Domino's, with 7,000 stores in 64 countries worldwide, describes itself as the "world leader in pizza delivery."