Good ole Jack Cowin of Hungry Jacks fame inspired me to invest...

Good ole Jack Cowin of Hungry Jacks fame inspired me to invest in the food sector. Fair to say he's smiling now.

• permissions

Hungry Jack Cowin's slice of Domino's just broke through 10 figure
http://www.copyright link/content/dam/images/g/h/4/b/8/7/image.related.afrArticleLead.620x350.gkahjw.png/1446706960087.jpg
Jack Cowin's stake in Domino's has risen 85 per cent in a year. Sasha Woolley
http://www.copyright link/content/dam/images/1/4/4/6/z/1/image.imgtype.afrAuthorAvatar.120x120.png/1426319243004.png

• Share on twitter

by James Thomson
He's best known as the man who created the Hungry Jack's hamburger empire. But it's a fair bet that Jack Cowin would have enjoyed a selection from Domino's Pizza Enterprises' gourmet range for dinner last night.
On Thursday, the value of Cowin's stake in Domino's broke through $1 billion for the first time, as the stock soared almost 10 per cent to $46.62.
Cowin's slice of the action, held in a family trust called Somad Holdings, is now worth a staggering $1.08 billion, after Domino's shares jumped another 1.2 per cent to $47.19 on Friday. In the space of just 12 months, its value has soared by more than 85 per cent.
Thursday's surge appeared to be driven by a re-rating of the stock after Domino's surprise acquisition of French chain Pizza Sprint for €35 million ($55 million). The Australian company was already the market leader in that market with 254 stores, so the deal cements its position in an existing market, rather than opening a new frontier.

Still, the market is clearly in love with the big-picture vision of Cowin and his chief executive, Don Meij, whose own stake is now worth more than $85 million. Meij wants to double the number of Domino's stores worldwide from 1506 to more than 3250 in the next 10 years. That suggests many more deals are in the pipeline.

Cowin has a storied career in fast food in Australia. He arrived in Perth from Canada in 1969, borrowing $10,000 each from 30 fellow Canadians to buy a Kentucky Fried Chicken (now KFC) franchise. He would go on to build Hungry Jack's, Australia's version of Burger King, into a national giant.
But along the way Cowin bought pizza stores that eventually morphed into a large stake in Domino's Australian operation. When Domino's listed on the ASX in May 2005, Somad held 74.5 per cent of the business.
The offer price was just $2.20 a share.

On March 20 last year, Cowin became chairman of the group. Since then, the stock has risen from $20.65 to $46.62.
Many have questioned whether the meteoric rise of Domino's can continue. Several brokers upgraded their earnings estimates following the Pizza Sprint deal and Meij's bullish comments on growth in Europe. But the question remains whether the shares have become too expensive.
Analysts are divided. Morgan Stanley now has a 12-month target price of $50.00 on the stock, but Morningstar puts fair value at $30.00. Its analysts upgraded their forecasts for 2017 earnings by 6 per cent, but said the market "appears to be taking a more positive view on the sustainability of the company's current earnings growth trajectory".

That's an understatement. But right now, it's hard to see what stops the momentum of Domino's share price.





Read more: http://www.copyright link/business/...ough-10-figures-20151015-gkahjw#ixzz4EughWksB
Follow us: @FinancialReview on Twitter | financialreview on Facebook