Grupo Pao de Acucar , Brazil's biggest diversified retailer, posted a 43 percent jump in fourth-quarter profit thanks to surging revenue and solid cost controls.

The Sao Paulo-based company reported net income of 361 million reais ($209 million) in a Thursday securities filing, beating expectations of a 313 million reais profit in a Reuters survey.

Pao de Acucar said its growing scale helped improve negotiations with suppliers and the elimination of bakery and meat sections from some stores helped control costs in the face of rising wages. Both adjustments helped to boost profitability more than most analysts had forecast.

Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, a gauge of operating profit known as EBITDA, rose 51 percent to 1.096 billion reais, beating expectations of a 30 percent increase.

EBITDA as a share of revenue, a measure of profitability known as the EBITDA margin, gained 1.6 percentage points to 8.2 percent.

Source: Reuters