MAM
MediaCom shuffles senior team at Mumbai office
MUMBAI: The GroupM and Madison Media joint venture agency MediaCom has announced changes in key senior roles at the Mumbai office.
Hemen Desai, who is currently managing partner for Team P&G, will be moving to Tokyo as MediaCom Japan MD.
Desai has been with MediaCom India since 2008 and has been instrumental in setting up the team that exclusively handles the P&G media mandate. He and his team were the architects of the Gillete “WALS” campaign that won MediaCom India a Gold Media Lion at Cannes Lions.
Desai‘s move as MD of MediaCom Japan, comes a week after the announcement of Anita Mookherjee‘s move from MediaCom Bangalore to Jakarta as the MD of MediaCom Indonesia.
MediaCom India MD Debraj Tripathy said, “This is in line with our endeavor to provide our top performers with bigger opportunities within the MediaCom network. MediaCom India continues to be the grooming ground for some of MediaCom‘s best managers in the region.”
Avinash Pillai, who used to lead buying for MediaCom India, will replace Desai as general manager on the P&G business. Pillai has been with MediaCom for more than two years and has been directly involved with media partners on all key deals and plays an important role in new business wins.
Ashwini Kamat, who used to lead the non-P&G businesses in MediaCom Bombay (VW Group, HRI, Aegon Religare, Wyeth, Pfizer, and Edelweiss), will take over from Pillai as the national buying director of MediaCom India.
Deepa Jatkar who used to lead the VW business takes over from Kamat as the general manager in charge of the non-P&G businesses. Both Kamat and Jatkar together fashioned and managed the innovations on VW and Skoda.
Brands
Domino’s Q1 profit falls 6.6 per cent, announces $1 billion buyback
Sales rise 3.4 per cent as pizza giant balances growth and shareholder returns
NEW YORK: Domino’s reported a mixed start to 2026, with first-quarter net income slipping even as global sales and store expansion held steady. The company also announced a fresh $1 billion share buyback, underlining its continued focus on shareholder returns.
Global retail sales rose 3.4 per cent on a constant-currency basis to $4.74 billion. The US remained a key growth engine, with same-store sales inching up 0.9 per cent, supported by a 1.5 per cent rise at company-owned outlets.
International markets, however, painted a more uneven picture. While Domino’s added 161 net new stores overseas during the quarter, international same-store sales declined 0.4 per cent. Overall revenues still climbed 3.5 per cent to $1.15 billion, driven by higher supply chain revenues and a 2.6 per cent increase in food basket pricing for franchisees.
On the profitability front, net income fell 6.6 per cent to $139.8 million, compared to $149.7 million a year earlier. Diluted earnings per share dropped to $4.13 from $4.33. The decline was largely attributed to a $30 million unfavourable swing in unrealised gains linked to its investment in DPC Dash Ltd.
Despite this, operational performance showed resilience. Income from operations rose 9.6 per cent to $230.4 million, supported in part by a $7.8 million pre-tax gain from the sale of a corporate aircraft.
Domino’s footprint continued to expand, with the company ending the quarter at 22,322 stores across more than 90 markets. In the US, digital orders remained dominant, accounting for over 85 per cent of retail sales in 2025.
The company also maintained its dividend payout, declaring $1.99 per share, payable on 30 June 2026. After repurchasing $75.1 million worth of stock during the quarter, the new authorisation lifts the total available for buybacks to $1.29 billion.
Domino’s chief executive officer Russell Weiner said the company’s scale and store-level economics position it well to capture further market share in 2026, even as competition intensifies.
As Domino’s leans into expansion and capital returns, the latest results show a business managing short-term pressures while keeping its long-term growth strategy firmly in play.
