Sainsbury's has announced annual pre-tax profits of £827m, a rise of 12.8%. The supermarket group saw annual sales rise by 7.1 per cent to £23bn, with large gains coming from non-food sales.

The retailer's like-for-like sales rose 2.3 per cent with store expansions and new openings.

Sainsbury's remains the third-largest supermarket chain the UK, although the latest profits point to gains in its market share which increased from 16.1 per cent to 16.3 per cent over the year.

Sainsbury's claims to now be the UK's seventh largest clothing retailer; boding well for their future with non-food sales rising at three times the rate that of food.

Chief executive Justin King said customer numbers were up on the previous year to an all-time high of 21 million weekly transactions. He added: "non-food will be a key area of growth for many years to come."