Upmarket US grocery retailer Whole Foods Market has said its net income nearly doubled during its 2010 financial year as the company’s results surpassed its expectations.

For the full year ended 26 September, net income reached $240.4m, a 102% increase on the previous year. For the year, EBITDA grew 29% to $713.6m.

Sales increased 12% to $9bn, while comparable-store sales increased 7.1%.

“We are proud to be gaining market share at a faster rate than most public food retailers,” said co-chief executive and co-founder John Mackey. “We attribute much of our success to the progress we have made in our relative price positioning and to our initiatives in areas such as healthy eating, animal welfare and sustainable seafood.”

For the fourth quarter, earnings increased 101% to $57.5m while diluted earnings per share increased 63% to $0.33.

During the fourth quarter, sales increased 15% to $2.1bn and comparable-store sales increased 8.7%.

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Shares in the company were up 8.25% in pre-market trading to reach $44.46 a share at 4:08 EDT.

Click here for the full statement from Whole Foods and check back later for further insight into the retailer’s results.