The world’s largest retailers saw sales rise and profits fall through June 2009, according to a report released today.

Sales increased 5.5 percent in fiscal year 2008, which includes companies whose fiscal year ended in June 2009, with total sales of about $3.8 trillion. However, profitability of the largest 250 retailers dropped to 2.4 percent from 3.7 percent in fiscal 2007, according to a report from Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu and STORES Media.

Two-thirds of the retailers that disclosed their bottom-line results saw their net profit margin decline in 2008, with 30 retailers operating at a loss. This trend affected almost every category. Retailers in Europe saw their profitability fall to 2.7 percent from 4.1 percent. In North America, profitability dropped to 2.4 percent from 3.6 percent. Retailers in Africa and the Middle East saw profits increase, according to the report.

Hardlines, such electronics and health care, and leisure goods retailers saw their profit margin fall by more than half to 3.1 percent from 6.8 percent. Sales growth for fashion retailers fell into negative territory and profits were cut in half to 4.1 percent. The fast-moving consumer goods sector, which includes supermarkets and other food retailers, saw profits fall to 2.2 percent from 3 percent, despite seeing higher sales growth than the other groups at 8.6 percent.

One of the key findings of the report was that most retailers have yet to make a major push to online sales, which made up 6.6 percent of total sales for the top 100 retailers in the world.