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SAB confirms it is 'looking closely' at Bass
South African Breweries (SAB) is still interested in buying Bass Brewers, according to chief executive, Graham Mackay: We are looking at it [Bass] very closely in terms of what may be for sale and how much it will cost. We have great interest in the situation. SAB was seen as the favourite to buy Bass last year but was beaten by Interbrew's £2.3bn bid in August. The British government's order to the Belgian brewer to sell Bass because of competition concerns refuelled SAB's hopes. However Interbrew has just won a High Court appeal which means the government will have to reconsider its ruling. SAB, which brews two-thirds of Africa's beer and earns half its profits in South African rand, reported pre-tax profit for the year ending 31 March of $646m (£456m), broadly in line with analyst expectations. The results suffered from a 19 per cent devaluation of the rand against the dollar. In the South African currency earnings would have been up 15 per cent, said Mackay. Through its Chinese joint venture company CRE Beverage SAB has also acquired three new brewery companies in China and injected them into the newly formed joint venture companies. Mackay says China is one of the fastest growing beer markets in the world at 7.2 per cent per annum and second only to the USA in terms of beer volumes consumed: These further acquisitions underline our commitment to this region and the huge potential it offers.