Guinness is an outlier in Diageo's business, which consists mostly of spirits rather than beer, but its performance recently has outshone that of key liquor labels, such as Johnnie Walker whisky.

The drinks giant changed tack over the weekend after declining to comment on a report on Friday (24 January) that it was mulling a potential sale of Guinness.

Diageo Plc said it doesn’t plan to sell the Guinness beer brand or its stake in Moet Hennessy, even as pressure grows on the company to find ways to revive growth.