Guinness is still good for you. That was the verdict of analysts at Jefferies after owner Diageo said it has ‘no intention’ to sell the famous Irish stout brand or its stake in Moet Hennessy.
A report by Bloomberg last week said the FTSE 100 giant –the world’s biggest maker of spirits – was exploring options for both Guinness and its investment in LVMH’s Moet Hennessy drinks unit. Guinness was said to be valued at around £8billion.
But over the weekend, Diageo dismissed the report, saying: ‘We note the recent media speculation around the Guinness brand and our stake in Moet Hennessy and we can confirm that we have no intention to sell either.’
Diageo shares, which ticked higher on the reports last week, dipped 0.3 per cent, or 0.42p, to 124.71p.
But in a report entitled Guinness Is Still Good For You, Jefferies analysts Edward Mundy and Andrei Andon-Ionita gave Diageo a ‘buy’ rating and a target price of 2800p.
They said the company will ‘start to look different’ as confidence in its spirits business increases and added that the arrival of ‘heavyweight’ finance chief Nik Jhangiani in September will lead to ‘a renewed focus’ on growth, profits and cash.
Not for sale: Diageo has dismissed suggestions it is looking to sell the Guinness Irish stout brand and its stake in Moet Hennessey
The report also said the confirmation that Guinness and the Moet Hennessy stake are not for sale ‘points to confidence’ in the future.
With global technology stocks tumbling as the emergence of low-cost Chinese artificial intelligence firm DeepSeek raises questions over the valuation of the US giants and others, the FTSE 100 inched up 0.02 per cent, or 1.36 points, to 8503.71 while the FTSE 250 slid 0.7 per cent, or 148.55 points, to 20369.5.
Among the biggest losers were investment trusts with exposure to tech.
Allianz Technology Trust fell 5.2 per cent, or 23p, to 422p, Polar Capital Technology Trust slumped 6.8 per cent, or 26p, to 356.5p and Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust lost 5.2 per cent, or 54.5p, to 1004.5p.
Miner Anglo American shares fell 6.2 per cent, or 157.5p, to 2378p after reports over the weekend said rival BHP (down 0.5 per cent, or 9.5p, to 1992.5p) was not planning to make a fresh bid for the company having failed with a £39billion swoop last year.
The wider sector was also under the cosh as copper prices retreated from a ten-week high.
Antofagasta fell 3.3 per cent, or 58p, to 1696.5p, Glencore dropped 3.7 per cent, or 13.9p, to 361.5p and Rio Tinto lost 1.8pc, or 87.5p, to 4899.5p.
Burberry received a boost as analysts at JP Morgan, UBS and Stifel all raised their price target on the stock following last week’s upbeat trading update.
But shares fell 3.7 per cent, or 43p, to 1133p having jumped 10 per cent after Friday’s better-than-expected report. The shares are still up 15 per cent this year having doubled since their September low.
Heading in the other direction was cigarette maker British American Tobacco after analysts at UBS raised their rating on the Lucky Strike owner to ‘buy’ from ‘neutral’ and the price target from 3000p to 3900p. Shares jumped 4.7 per cent, or 142p, to 3150p.
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