Sainsbury’s retail sales were up 1.2% in the fourth trading quarter while like-for-like sales grew 0.1%.

The supermarket retailer also saw online grocery sales grow by nearly 14% in the nine weeks to 12 March, while orders were up almost 19%.

Sainsbury’s also opened 16 new convenience stores in its fourth quarter, including a second micro store in Richmond, London, to take its total number of c-stores to 773.

Chief executive Mike Coupe said: “We have delivered a strong performance this quarter. Our supermarkets recorded both like-for-like transaction and volume growth and we continue to exceed our internal metrics for service and availability. We also maintained our market share in the quarter. The market will remain competitive as food deflation continues to impact sales growth.”

Sainsbury’s recently announced that it will be phasing out the vast majority of its multi-buy promotions across grocery products by August, with promotional participation levels continuing to reduce year-on-year, running at an average of 28% for quarter two.

“We are progressing well with our quality investment in 3,000 own-brand products. The New Year is traditionally a time when customers focus on healthy eating and to cater for this demand we launched a number of vegetable-based product innovations and new lines to our healthier bread range which are high in fibre,” added Coupe.