Grocer Albertsons Companies saw net income decline despite higher net sales in the last fiscal year.

The company’s net income fell 14.4 per cent to $1.3 billion in the year ended February 24.

This comes despite sales and other revenue increasing 2 per cent to $79.24 billion, with digital sales jumping 22 per cent and same-store sales rising 3 per cent.

Looking forward to fiscal 2024, Albertsons CEO Vivek Sankaran said the company will continue to invest in its Customers for Life strategy and develop the digital and omnichannel capabilities necessary to support it.

However, Sankaran added that the company also expects headwinds to be much stronger than the previous year.

“We expect to face ongoing headwinds posed by investments in associate wages and benefits, cycling significant prior year food inflation, lower government assistance for our customers, declining Covid-related income, and the increasing mix of our pharmacy and digital businesses, which carry lower margins,” Sankaran said.

“We expect these headwinds to be much stronger in the first half of fiscal 2024. These headwinds are expected, however, to be partially offset by ongoing productivity initiatives.”