** Shares of grocery distributor Metcash Ltd MTS.AX rise
as much as 9.1% to A$3.915, posting their biggest intraday pct
gain since December 2020
** Co posts record year with an underlying profit after tax
of A$307.5 mln ($205.26 mln), an increase of 4.6% on previous
year
** Says full-year revenue increased 6.2% to A$15.8 bln;
total dividends for FY23 up 5% at 22.5 Australian cents per
share
** Adds sales growth momentum continued into early FY24
** Shares hit their highest level since May 15
** Stock second-biggest pct gainer on the benchmark S&P/ASX
200 index .AXJO
** More than 5.2 mln shares change hands, compared with the
30-day average volume of ~4.3 mln shares
** Stock down 9.8% this year, as of last close, vs a 0.9%
increase in AXJO
($1 = 1.4981 Australian dollars)
(Reporting by Roushni Nair in Bengaluru)
((Roushni.Nair@thomsonreuters.com;))