Pursuits

Beer Drinkers in Thailand Power Singapore’s Best Stock in 2016

  • Corporate revamp may spur more share gains, Religare says
  • Analysts raise estimates of Thai Beverage after profit surges

Workers prepare stacks of Chang beer in Ayutthya province.

Photographer: Dario Pignatelli/Bloomberg
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The biggest gainer among Singapore’s stocks this year is a foreigner.

Thai Beverage Pcl has jumped 36 percent to a record in 2016, benefiting from rising consumption in Thailand, where stimulus and low interest rates have driven the benchmark index to the highest level in almost a year. Singapore’s equities market, by contrast, is a laggard in Southeast Asia, suffering from lackluster growth at banks, developers and oil-rig builders. Thai Beverage’s return this year is almost triple that for the second-best stock in the Straits Times Index.