Sainsbury’s has forecasted flat profits in the year ahead as it looks to maintain its position in the competitive grocery market, despite a strong performance in 2024.

For the 52 weeks to 1 March 2025, Sainsbury’s retail underlying operating profit increased by 7.2% to £1.036bn as retail sales increased 3.1% to £31.5bn, spurred by a 4.5% uplift in grocery sales 4.5%.

Despite this, the grocer expects to deliver flat profits of around £1bn in 2025/26 as it looks to continue its “strong competitive position” and sustain its value proposition.

Over the past financial year, the supermarket invested £1bn in lowering prices and delivered its highest market share gain in more than a decade.

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Sainsbury’s chief executive Simon Roberts said: “Our customer offer is the strongest it has ever been. We’ve expanded Aldi Price Match to more products than ever before in addition to offers on more than 9,000 products with Nectar Prices. Customer satisfaction with product availability is at record levels and we’re continuing to add more new, innovative products to our ranges.

“Nectar is taking our ability to create personalised value and loyalty to the next level and our long-term contracts with farmers and suppliers demonstrate our commitment to resilience and sustainability across the UK food system.”

Looking ahead, the supermarket chain said it is focused on the commitments that it made in February 2024, including to deliver food volume growth ahead of the market, £1bn of cost savings over the three years to 2026/27 and improve both customer satisfaction and colleague engagement.

Roberts added: “We are committed, above all else, to sustaining the strong competitive position we have built – consistently giving customers the great value they have come to expect from Sainsbury’s – and we expect to continue to outperform the market.”