May 11- New stores, online shopping and sales of non-food goods helped British grocer J Sainsbury meet full-year forecasts and grow market share despite a challenging consumer environment.

Pedestrians pass a Sainsbury's store in London (Photo: Corbis)

Chief executive Justin King told Reuters Insider on Wednesday he did not expect trading conditions to improve this year as shoppers grapple with rising prices and austerity measures.

The head of Britain's third-biggest supermarket group behind market leader Tesco and Wal-Mart's Asda also said he do not see them getting significantly worse.

"The consumer has been in a very realistic place. They expect things to get more challenging and they have been managing their household budgets accordingly," King said.

"Given we have been able to deliver success against that backdrop, we think that can continue."

While a string of British retailers have warned of worsening trading conditions this year, a survey on Tuesday found April had been a better month, boosted by warm weather and the royal wedding.

Separately on Wednesday, electricals group Kesa reported deteriorating sales at its British chain Comet, while online grocer Ocado said its rapid growth had slowed because of capacity constraints.

Sainsbury said profit before tax and one-off items rose 9 percent to 665 million pounds ($1.1 billion) in the year to March 19. That compared with a forecast for 660 million pounds, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S Estimates.

Net debt rose to 1.8 billion pounds from 1.5 billion as Sainsbury pressed ahead with its expansion plans, while the proposed rise in the dividend of 6.3 percent to 15.1 pence was below expectations, and slower than underlying earnings growth.

King said there were no financial constraints on future expansion, saying the group had "plenty of funding".

Sainsbury has outperformed sales growth at major rivals over recent quarters as it opens stores outside its heartlands in the south of England and expands online as well as into convenience shops and non-food ranges like clothing.

But it posted a sharp slowdown in fourth-quarter sales growth, raising fears it was starting to fade.

Sainsbury shares have lagged the STOXX Europe 600 retail index .SXRP by 9 percent this year. They closed at 355.8 pence on Tuesday valuing the company at about 6.5 billion pounds.

The group said the value of its properties had risen 700 million pounds to 10.5 billion.

By Mark Potter
(Editing by Dan Lalor)