British supermarket giant Sainsbury's has seen its core profits for the year soar 42 per cent to £380m.
Total sales have grown by £1.8bn since the group put in place its "Making Sainsbury's Great Again" recovery plan in October 2004.
That leaves the chain ahead of its target to reach £2.5bn sales growth by March 2008.
Sainsbury's also says it is also on track to cut costs by £440m by next March.
The group, which fought off a private equity takeover approach earlier this year, has set itself new targets for the next three years, with aims to generate £3.5bn of sales growth.
"This strong sales performance is ahead of our own expectations," CEO Justin King said. "It's also our best for many years.
"It shows that our recovery is ahead of plan and that we've made substantial progress in addressing many of the challenges outlined in our recovery plan."
Sainsbury's launched a turnaround just over two years ago after posting the first loss in its 135-history in 2004.
The chain aims to open 30 new supermarkets and 100 convenience stores and expand its online home delivery service.
But the group ruled out spinning off its property assets - valued at around £10.1bn - saying they are an integral part of the business.