Domino's Pizza has served up a sales hike for the last three months of 2019, but warned of writedowns of up to £60 million for the full year.

The British arm of the group said UK underlying like-for-like sales grew 3.9% over the 13 weeks to December 29, with online sales up 8.3%.

It said UK comparable sales including stores opened near another outlet - so-called split territories - rose by a more muted 2.6%.

Domino's said its under-pressure directly-owned international business - which is being sold off as it beats a retreat from foreign markets - is expected to tumble to an operating loss of around £20 million in 2019.

READ MORE: Ian McConnell: Anger over university principal pay inevitable but it surely misses the real point

Domino's also revealed full-year results are set to see a hit of around £20 million in impairment charges for corporate stores and up to £40 million for its international business.

The group said it is prioritising the sale of its hardest-hit overseas division in Norway, which is suffering "significant" losses, and will look to offload businesses in Sweden, Switzerland and Iceland next.

"We are focused on securing the best possible terms for shareholders and are working closely with Domino's Pizza Inc throughout," the group said.

The update showed that international sales fell 1.4% in local currencies over the fourth quarter.

Domino's gave assurances that the overall business is on track with market expectations for earnings of £103.4 million for 2019.

Chief executive David Wild said: "I am pleased with the performance of our core UK and Ireland markets, with system sales up 4.4% and UK like-for-likes up 3.9%, against a strong comparative and a competitive backdrop.

"This performance was driven by the power of our brand, our strong digital capabilities and the operational expertise of our franchisee partners."

The disposal of the international business will allow the firm to refocus around its UK and Ireland operation, which also faces challenges as a dispute with store operators drags on.

Paddy Power owner Flutter Entertainment's £10 billion merger with The Stars Group is being probed by the UK competition watchdog.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said it will investigate whether the deal would result in a "substantial lessening of competition" in the UK gambling sector.

READ MORE: Venerable Glasgow accountancy firm to be run by non-family member for first time

Flutter, which also owns Betfair, announced the tie-up with Canadian rival The Stars Group in October in a deal that would create the world's largest online betting firm with combined annual revenues of £3.8 billion.

The CMA is asking for views on the deal, with a deadline of February 18.

Under terms of The Stars Group (TSG) merger, Flutter - previously called Paddy Power Betfair - will own 54.6% of the combined firm, which will have its headquarters in Dublin and be listed on the London Stock Exchange as well as on Euronext Dublin.

Following the transaction, Flutter said it will have customers in more than 100 international markets and will gain TSG's well-known brands PokerStars and Sky Betting & Gaming.

The tie-up - set to be completed through a takeover of TSG by Flutter - will allow the two firms to make savings of £140 million a year, while there will also be potential revenue cross-sell in international markets and lower finance costs.

A crackdown on vapes in the US has forced Imperial Brands back to the drawing board as it revealed that the bill from regulation and slowing demand will rise to around £85 million.

The company said that it is implementing a further cost savings programme to mitigate the effect of lower revenue from its next-generation products lines, which include vaping.

READ MORE: Stuart Patrick: We shouldn't underestimate Glasgow's skills base

This is expected to hit full-year adjusted operating profit by around £40 million.

A US ban on certain flavours of vape pods will impact first-half adjusted operating profit by £45 million, in line with previous estimates.

The Golden Virginia maker said that its tobacco arm opened the first three months of the year strongly.

It expects first-half adjusted earnings per share to drop around 10% on a constant currency basis. This is largely due to write-downs in the US following the flavour ban, which comes into force on Thursday.