Sainsbury’s has seen a 16.3% rise in pre-tax profits to £898m for the 52 weeks ending 15 March, while like-for-like sales increased by 0.2%.

Chairman David Tyler said the retailer’s market share remains at its highest level for a decade. Customer transactions have increased by ten million a week to around 24 million and annual sales have grown by £10.3 billion to £26.4 billion. Underlying profit before tax has trebled to £798 million.

Chief executive Justin King who will leave the company in July after 10 years at the helm said: 'In a competitive retail environment we have focused on delivering high quality, affordable own-brand products across all our channels...”

He continued: 'While the general economic outlook is showing some signs of improvement, conditions in the food retail sector are likely to remain challenging for the foreseeable future as customers continue to spend cautiously. We remain committed to investing for the future and continue to see significant opportunities for growth.”