Aug 25 (Reuters) - Australia's largest supermarket chain Woolworths Group posted a 0.7% rise in annual profit on Thursday, as a jump in sales helped offset pandemic-related expenses.

The company posted annual net profit after tax from continuing operations, excluding items, of A$1.51 billion ($1.04 billion), compared with A$1.50 billion a year ago.

($1 = 1.4478 Australian dollars) (Reporting by Harish Sridharan and Savyata Mishra in Bengaluru; Editing by Vinay Dwivedi)