MAM
Reliance Jio’s Nikhil Rungta joins Housing.com as CMO
MUMBAI: Reliance Jio senior vice president – marketing Nikhil Rungta as joined real estate giant Housing.com as chief marketing officer.
Rungta replaces Pratik Seal, who resigned from his post in September this year.
Prior to Reliance Jio, Rungta served as the CMO for Google in India for four years. He also played key business leadership roles at start-ups like Yebhi and Yatra.com.
Housing.com chief business officer Jason Kothari said, “Nikhil is one of India’s leading marketers who has achieved remarkable success during his career. For the last two decades, he has worked in leadership roles across sales, marketing and e-commerce with both multinationals and start-ups. He has a deep understanding of the Indian consumer market and has used a mix of traditional marketing and digital media to grow world-class businesses and brands from the ground up. His rich experience will be a valuable addition to Housing.com’s growth plans and senior management team. We are very excited to have him on board with us.”
Appreciating Housing.com’s disruptive approach to the market, Rungta said, “Housing, like Apple, has a great mix of technology and design thinking, their UI and UX is world class. They are making the home buying decision much easier for customers. The company has all the ingredients to become the next unicorn from India, and I am really excited to be a part of this journey with Housing. I would like to quote Travis Kalanick – CEO of Uber – ‘There are certain things in life where you have to go for it – just for the sheer adventure of it, and also for the potential.”
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.
