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28 April 2021 J Sainsbury plc Financial highlights • . Preliminary Results for the 52 weeks ended 6th March 2021 Delivering against our plan to put food back at the heart of Sainsbury's Strong operating performance , with grocery sales up 7.8 % , general merchandise sales up 8.3 % and digital sales up 102 % , offset on a statutory basis by materially reduced fuel sales ; changes we have made through the pandemic are creating good momentum as we move into the new financial year Underlying profit before tax down 39 % to £ 356 million , with benefits from strong sales growth ( excluding fuel ) more than offset by £ 485 million of direct COVID - 19 costs . Statutory loss before tax of £ 261 million predominantly reflects one - off costs and impairments associated with strategic changes announced in November Strong Retail free cash flow of £ 784 million , with significant working capital inflow more than offsetting lower profits Upgrading four - year net debt reduction target from £ 750 million to at least £ 950 million despite short term expectation of some working capital reversal . Expect to generate average Retail cash flow of at least £ 500 million per year over the three years to March 2025 Proposed final dividend of 7.4 pence , full year dividend 10.6¹ pence , reflecting strong cash generation and consistent with our commitment to protect shareholder income from the full impact of COVID - 19 on profits Continue to expect underlying profit before tax in the financial year to March 2022 to exceed March 2020 level ( £ 586 million ) ; comfortable with consensus forecasts of around £ 620 million² Strategic highlights We have made good early progress with the plan we announced in November to put food back at the heart of Sainsbury's . We are changing at pace , making bold decisions and investing in the areas that matter to customers , underpinned by an accelerated cost saving programme . Throughout the pandemic we have remained focused on delivering against this plan and have built good momentum : • • • • Adapted at pace to COVID - 19 , prioritising customer and colleague safety , supporting communities and helping to feed the nation . Record customer satisfaction scores for friendliness and speed of checkout and rated best for customer safety throughout the pandemic³ Improved the value of our food ranges , lowering the prices of the products that matter most to customers and extending our Price Lock price commitment . Also launched Sainsbury's Quality , Aldi Price Match and customers are responding by spending more with us , more often Changing our ways of working and our supplier relationships ; will triple our levels of new product innovation to 1,900 products in the year ahead Profitably grown Groceries Online from eight per cent of grocery sales in 2019/20 to 17 per cent in 2020/21 and gained more market share than key competitors . Argos digital sales increased by 68 per cent , while also improving profitability 7.4 million digital Nectar users , up from 4.5 million last year Financial Services returned to profit in H2 ; remain committed to doubling profit contribution and returns by March 20245 Building on our existing Net Zero by 2040 commitment , announced new target to reduce our absolute greenhouse gas emissions by 30 per cent by 2030 , signing up to Science Based Targets . Principal Partner of COP26 , the UN Climate Change Conference taking place in November this year Made a strong start to the transformation of Argos , which will improve product availability and deliver a lower cost to serve Transformed the reach of Habitat , making it our leading furniture and home brand 1 Excluding the Special dividend announced in November 2020 of 7.3 pence , as this relates to 2019/20 . 2 Analyst consensus published on our website as at 9 February 2021 3Sainsbury's came first in a supermarket safety survey conducted by the UK's leading consumer champion . This is corroborated by Sainsbury's own internal data 4 Nielsen panel market share data , 4 weekly report , FY18 / 19 vs FY20 / 21 5 On a Group contribution basis by FY23 / 24 1