Dominos Pizza is to pull out of operating outlets in the European market.

However the move does not affect its Irish operations.

In a statement, the company says: "We've decided Domino's Pizza Group is not the best company to run these markets.

"However, we believe they remain attractive.

"This doesn't affect Ireland where we've opened three stores this quarter."

Affected markets include Sweden, Norway, Iceland and Switzerland.

The company says the brand will remain in place in those countries, but will no longer be operated by Dominos UK and Ireland.

It says the closures are due to "difficult and challenging" conditions following a review of international markets.

The firm has been running international operations, apart from Ireland and the UK, for the last four years.

File photo | Image: Fabio De Paola/PA Archive/PA Images

The company reported Ireland and UK sales growth of 3.9% in the third quarter of this year - Irish sales grew by 2.4%.

While online sales increased by 9.9%. Dominos says online now accounts for 90.9% of its delivery sales.

CEO David Wild said: "We delivered a solid performance in our core UK and Ireland markets, with system sales up 3.9%, against a market backdrop that remains challenging."

"Although the financial results have stabilised, the performance of our international business remains disappointing.

"Over the past six weeks we have completed a review with external consultants, assessing each of our four international markets and the future prospects for our businesses.

"We have concluded that, whilst they represent attractive markets, we are not the best owners of these businesses. The board has therefore decided to exit the markets in an orderly manner."

In Switzerland, sales were down 2.9%, with like-for-like sales down 6.6%.

Iceland saw sales drop 1.0%, with like-for-like sales down 8.2% - impacted by a weak market overall and a decline in tourism.

While sales were actually up 25% in Sweden, with like-for-like sales up 1%.