Coles saw its profit slightly grow on the back of higher revenue in the last fiscal year, amid the renewal and opening of new stores.

The supermarket chain’s net profit grew 1.8 per cent to $1.12 billion as group sales rose 5.1 per cent to $43.57 billion.

Supermarket revenue increased 6.2 per cent to $39.04 billion while liquor revenue climbed 2.3 per cent to $3.69 billion. Other segments’ revenue stood at $837 million.

The company attributed the improved sales to its ‘Great Value, Hands Down’ seasonal campaigns, continuity and collectible programs, trade events such as Christmas, Easter and Mother’s Day, e-commerce growth, and improvements in availability.

During the period, Coles completed the ramp-up of the Redbank automated distribution centre (ADC), which now services 219 stores in Queensland and NSW.

Coles ended the fiscal year with 856 supermarkets after completing 50 store renewals, opening 12 new stores, and closing two.

“The financial pressures on households and families have been front of mind for us this year and we have endeavoured to deliver value across our supermarket, liquor and online offerings to help customers balance the household budget,” said Leah Weckert, Coles CEO.

“At the same time, we have worked hard to deliver improvements in availability and quality, made significant inroads in addressing loss, accelerated our digital offering, continued to maintain a strong focus on costs and completed the construction of our second ADC and both our customer fulfilment centres (CFCs).”

In the first eight weeks of the current fiscal year, supermarket sales jumped 3.7 per cent while liquor sales dipped 1.4 percent, impacted by the CrowdStrike outage in July.

Coles plans to open approximately eight new supermarkets, close five, and renew 50 stores. For the liquor business, the company expects to open about 13 new stores, close 10, and renew about 60 stores.