ON THE UP: South African Breweries

NEWCOMER South African Breweries was the best performer in the FT-SE 100 stock index with a gain of more than 11 per cent. Buyers were celebrating the ANC's victory in the South African elections, or at least hoping to make a quick profit by buying in London and selling into a rising market in Johannesburg.

SAB, which is the world's fourth-largest brewer, said it has bought a 92.5 per cent stake in a sixth Chinese brewery, one of two being sold by Foster's Brewing Group, Australia's largest brewery.

There is also speculation that SAB is the front runner in bidding to buy Spain's Cruzcampo with a bid valued at about R4bn (pounds 402m). Cruzcampo controls about 25 per cent of Spain's beer market.