The Henderson Group has reported an 11 per cent jump in pretax profits to nearly £24 million (€28 million) last year.

The group, which owns the Spar, Eurospar, Vivo, Vivo Essentials and Vivoxtra brands in Northern Ireland, saw turnover rise by 6 per cent to £699 million in 2016.

The group, which dates from 1897, has a portfolio of business interests which span retail, property and food service companies all of which operate under the Henderson name.

It said it strengthened its position despite what it described as “the competitive pressures within the grocery and food service sectors”.

"Strong like for like growth across all subsidiaries, high retention rates of existing retailers, recruitment of new retailers, coupled with significant investment by the group, directly within our company owned stores as well as with its retail partners, has delivered additional sales of £40 million," chief financial officer Ron Whitten said.

Grocery sales were 3.5 per cent stronger on a like-for-like basis while its foodservice division reported 11 per cent growth.