The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc. The year-over-year increase in profits reflects growth in all its business segments of food retail, cash and carry, electronics and home appliances retail (bricks and mortar),and e-commerce. The company also reported its 2013 earnings of R$3.75 ($1.75 per share), way behind the year-ago earnings of R$3.78 per share ($1.95 per share) due to a challenging macroeconomic environment marked by modest growth and interest rate hikes in order to control inflation.