Supermarket giant Coles has lifted its full-year profit by 5.7 per cent, buoyed by consumer stockpiling before the COVID-19 lockdown across the country.

Net profit excluding significant and other items was $951 million for 2019/20, compared to $900 million the year before.

Its statutory result was $978 million, down 31.8 per cent from $1.44 billion, although this included the impact of now discontinued businesses.

Coles’s retail sales revenue was up 6.9 per cent to $37.41 billion.

“Trading increased significantly in the latter stages of the third quarter as customers began pantry stocking in advance of COVID-19 social distancing measures being introduced,” Coles said on Tuesday.

“The associated transition to in-home consumption supported elevated trade through to the end of the year.”

In April, Coles said it had enjoyed a 13 per cent boost to its third-quarter grocery and alcohol sales, driven by panic buying of toilet paper and pasta in the early days of the coronavirus pandemic.

The supermarket giant’s revenue rose to $8.23 billion in the quarter alone as shoppers stockpiled groceries in the face of looming COVID-19 restrictions – leading to unprecedented sales growth of 13.1 per cent sales growth in the three months to the end of March.

On Tuesday, the retailer said its online sales revenue grew by 18.1 per cent to $1.3 billion for the full year.

It will pay a final dividend of 27.5 cents, taking the total for the year to 57.5 cents per share.

-with AAP