Grupo Pao de Acucar

Casino-owned Brazilian retailer Grupo Pão de Açúcar has announced increases in earnings and net profit during the third quarter of the year.

Sales for the quarter jumped 8.7 per cent on the same period of 2011, up to BRL13.7bn (US$6.8bn), as both grocery and electronic outlets benefited from tax breaks and interest rates cuts designed to get consumers into stores, Planet Retail reported.

Increased slaes helped push eanrings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) up 11 per cent to BRL801m (US$396m), with net profit soaring 65 per cent year-on-year to BRL201m (US$104m).