For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails

Sign up to our free breaking news emails

Sainsbury’s has said it expects to deliver “strong” profit growth over the year ahead after cheering surging food sales by reining prices to help win customers from rivals.

The supermarket giant reported a better-than-expected 1.6 per cent rise in underlying pre-tax profits to £701 million for the year to 2 March.

However, the figures came as the chain was hit by an embarrassingly-timed delivery service issue for online orders on Thursday.

Sainsbury’s said the problems were now resolved and only affected a “small number” of customers. Yet, it follows just weeks after the firm was left unable to take contactless payments due to a software update, leaving a raft of customers without home delivery orders.

In its full-year figures, the UK’s second-biggest grocery chain said total grocery sales increased 7.3 per cent in the fourth quarter and 9.4 per cent over the year, as it saw sales by volume pick up as inflation eased back.

This helped offset a tough market for general merchandise, with fourth-quarter Argos sales down 6.6 per cent and clothing tumbling 11.7 per cent.

The group said earnings were set to rise in 2024-25, pencilling in underlying retail operating profits of between £1.01bn and £1.06bn – up between 5 per cent and 10 per cent.

“We are confident of delivering strong profit growth in the year ahead,” it said.

“We expect to continue to grow grocery volumes ahead of the market, driving profit leverage.”

Simon Roberts, chief executive of Sainsbury’s, said moves to focus on food and keep prices affordable were “winning us customers from all our key competitors”.

He said: “We said we’d put food back at the heart of Sainsbury’s and that’s what we’ve done.”

Mr Roberts added: “We know it’s still tough out there for so many households and we’re doing all we can to save money right across our business to keep prices low – we have reduced 4,000 products over the last year alone.”

The figures come less than two months after Sainsbury’s said it would axe around 1,500 jobs under plans to cut costs by about £1bn a year.

It plans to reinvest the cash savings into the business, with aims to boost the amount of space dedicated to food in its 600 stores, roll out electric car charging points, increase loyalty card offers and open another 75 convenience stores.

Its latest full-year figures showed that on a statutory basis, pre-tax profits slumped 15.3 per cent to £277 million as it restructured its financial services arm and took a hit from not fully passing on interest rate rises to customers.

Group-wide sales on a like-for-like basis, excluding fuel, rose 4.8 per cent in the fourth quarter, but this was down on the 7.4 per cent increase seen in the previous three months and the slowest growth for 18 months.

Mr Roberts said food price inflation had fallen to just over 3 per cent now and forecasted it would continue stabilising and remain in low single digits this year.

However, he said there were some cost pressures facing the group, such as staff wage bills after the near 10 per cent rise in the National Living Wage, though this was balanced out by lower costs elsewhere, such as energy prices.

The group revealed there had been some cost and disruption to its fashion ranges from the Red Sea shipping woes in its fourth quarter to March, though it said it was working hard to offset the issues.

It is also taking measures with suppliers to work around crop issues after extreme wet weather in the UK, which is taking its toll on the supply of staples such as potatoes and onions.