(Adds details on comparable sales)
Aug 18 (Reuters) - Grocery chain Coles Group Ltd COL.AX said on Tuesday its full-year underlying net profit rose 7.1% as panic-driven stockpiling during the coronavirus crisis drove sales at its supermarkets and helped offset pandemic-related costs.
Australia's second largest grocery chain saw an "unprecedented demand" in the pandemic's infancy, leading to a record jump in March quarter sales, even as it spent more on cleaning and protective screens at check-out counters. continued to build in Supermarkets, peaking in late March, as government-imposed social distancing measures were introduced," the company said.
Underlying net profit rose to A$951 million for the year ended June 30, compared with A$888 million a year earlier.
The company declared a final dividend of 27.5 cents a share, higher than 24 cents a year earlier.
Comparable sales revenue rose 6.9% to A$37.41 billion, Coles said.
($1 = 1.3864 Australian dollars)