By Roshan Thomas

Feb 25 (Reuters) - Shares of Australia's Domino's Pizza Enterprises DMP.AX dropped more than 11% on Tuesday, after the pizza chain operator posted lower first-half profit and a slowdown in same-store sales momentum in the first seven weeks of the second half.

The stock fell 10.7% to A$28.8, as of 0025 GMT, its lowest level since January 16, and was among the biggest losers in the broader benchmark ASX200 index .AXJO.

The pizza chain's biggest franchise operator outside of the U.S. reported same-store sales growth of 1.5% for the first seven weeks of second half of 2025. It was slower than the 4.3% growth reported for the first five weeks, when Lunar New Year holidays boosted sales.

The rate of the seven weeks is indicative of underlying performance and is running below Visible Alpha consensus estimate of 2.6% growth for second half of 2025, analysts at Jefferies said.

The company reported underlying profit after tax from continuing operations of A$58.8 million ($37.29 million) for the six months ended December 29, 2024, missing Visible Alpha's consensus estimate of A$59.3 million.

Domino's Pizza Enterprises runs the largest master franchise of the U.S. pizza giant Domino's Pizza DPZ.O in 12 countries across Asia, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand. Japan accounts for just over a quarter of those stores.

Revenue declined across its key markets, with Asia down 7.1% to A$402 million in the first half.

"Throughout the 2024 calendar year, the group's Asian operations had been affected by a series of external factors, including geopolitical tensions lowering sales in Malaysia, and a brand issue relating to ingredient supply to Taiwan," the company said.

Domino's, however, declared an interim dividend of 55.5 Australian cents per share, same as last year.

($1 = 1.5770 Australian dollars)

(Reporting by Roshan Thomas in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi Aich)

((Roshan.Thomas@thomsonreuters.com;))