Money digest: today’s need-to-know financial news

A slice of happiness for pizza fans today as Domino’s reveals a hike in its annual dividend by 21.3 per cent to 11.75p per share. Despite making an underlying operating loss of £1.3 million, the takeaway chain confirmed it had opened 61 new stores across the country in 2015. The company also reported an increased pre-tax profit of £73.2 million due to a rise in customers ordering online. And a modicum of good news for homeowners following the publication of Nationwide’s February House Price Index. According to Britain’s biggest building society, UK house price growth remained ‘steady’ in February, with prices up 0.3 per cent from January. And a 3.2. per cent rise in like-for-like sales at Whitbread will give investors something to cheer about, including the news that like-for-like sales at Costa Coffee rose 3 per cent. People concerned about rising domestic costs will be disappointed to learn that changes in government energy policy since the last election have chased off investors and may have added £120 a year to household bills, according to a parliamentary report from the energy and climate change committee.

A report from the Pensions Institute at Cass Business School suggests that millions of savers are confused by new pension freedoms and need to be shepherded towards new simple and low-cost retirement income plans,

Meanwhile, The Times reports that the energy regulator Ofgem is to be handed sweeping new powers to manage the country’s electricity supplies, switch off factories and request emergency back-up generation.