(Reuters) -Wesfarmers ( WFAFF ), Australia's biggest non-food retailer, reported a near 4% rise in its annual profit on Thursday, driven by strong performances in its retail divisions, and announced an additional A$1.7 billion ($1.10 billion) capital return.

The company's hardware unit Bunnings and its budget department store chain Kmart Group's low prices and offers drove sales and earnings growth and the divisions also benefited from new and expanded offerings that helped grow their addressable markets.

The apparel-to-lithium conglomerate's net profit after tax excluding significant items for the full year ended June 30 came in at A$2.65 billion, compared with A$2.56 billion last year and a Visible Alpha consensus estimate of A$2.64 billion.

Additionally, Wesfarmers ( WFAFF ) said cash flow from its recent asset sales including its residual interest in Coles, divestment of Coregas and the divestment of unit WesCEF's LPG and LNG distribution businesses made an additional capital return possible.

The shareholder return is expected to comprise a capital component of A$1.10 per share and a special dividend of A$0.40 per share.

The company also declared a final dividend of A$1.11 per share, higher than A$1.07 apiece last year.

($1 = 1.5389 Australian dollars)