Sainsbury’s preliminary results for the year ended 19 March 2011 show profit before tax up by nine per cent year on year to £665 million. Total sales (excluding fuel) rose 4.9 per cent to £22.9bn.

Chairman David Tyler said: “Despite a challenging economic environment, our strategy of universal appeal, underpinned by our values, has enabled us to deliver a good sales and profit performance. We continue to gain market share and achieved growth in underlying earnings per share of over 10 per cent. As a result, the board is recommending a full-year dividend of 15.1 pence, an increase of 6.3 per cent over last year.”

Customer numbers are at an all-time high for the retailer, which recorded 21 million transactions every week, a 1m rise on last year .Justin King, CEO said: “Sainsbury’s has continued to perform well. Customer numbers are… a clear indication of our growing universal customer appeal across all channels. We have added gross space of 1.5 million sq ft to our store estate, creating over 6,000 new jobs. Strong sales growth, combined with productivity savings and tight control on operating costs, have helped to deliver good profit growth. Our colleagues continue to deliver great service, exceeding our stretching customer service targets, and we are delighted to be paying our colleagues a bonus of around £60 million.”

Looking ahead the Sainsbury’s board of directors said it expected the economic environment to remain uncertain over the coming year.

“We remain confident that our strategy, alongside continued strong operational performance, will enable the business to make further good progress,” added King.

Sainsbury’s grew its market share to 16.3 per cent from 16.1 per cent for the 52 weeks ended 20 March, according to data from analyst Kantar.

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