JOHANNESBURG, Feb. 9, 2024
/PRNewswire/ -- Sasol's financial results for the six months ended
31 December 2023 were negatively
impacted by the continued volatile macro-economic environment, with
weaker oil and petrochemical prices, unstable product demand and
ongoing inflationary cost pressure. Despite some operational
improvements in South Africa,
persistent underperformance of the state-owned enterprises involved
in Sasol's value chain and the weaker global growth outlook
continue to impact Sasol's business performance.
Sasol's adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and
amortisation (adjusted EBITDA*) for the six months ended
31 December 2023 are expected to be
between R26,2 billion and R29,4 billion compared to the prior half
year adjusted EBITDA of R32,0 billion (representing a decrease of
between 8% and 18%).
Shareholders are advised that, for the 2024 financial half
year:
- Earnings per share (EPS) are expected to be between R13,33 and
R16,58 compared to the prior half year EPS of R23,23 (representing
a decrease of between 29% and 43%);
- Headline earnings per share (HEPS) are expected to be between
R17,90 and R22,22 compared to the prior half year HEPS of R30,90
(representing a decrease of between 28% and 42%); and
- Core HEPS (CHEPS**) are expected to be between R16,43 and
R19,86 compared to the prior half year CHEPS of R24,55
(representing a decrease of between 19% and 33%).
Notable non-cash adjustments (before taxation) for the six
months ended 31 December 2023
include:
- Unrealised gains of R2,7 billion on the translation of monetary
assets and liabilities, and valuation of financial instruments and
derivative contracts; and
- Remeasurement items net loss of R5,8 billion, mainly due to
- R3,9 billion relating to the Secunda liquid fuels refinery cash
generating unit (CGU). The liquid fuels component of the Secunda
refinery was fully impaired at 30 June
2023. The value-in-use was further negatively impacted by an
increase in forecast Eskom electricity tariffs and lower short-term
Brent crude oil prices, resulting in the full amount of costs
capitalised during the period being impaired.
- R0,6 billion relating to the full impairment of Chemicals
Africa's Chlor Alkali and Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) CGU, and R0,5
billion partial impairment of the Polyethylene CGU mainly as a
result of lower selling prices associated with reduced market
demand.
The financial information underpinning this trading statement
has not been reviewed and reported on by the Company's external
auditors.
Sasol will release its 2024 interim financial results on Monday,
26 February 2024. Sasol's President
and Chief Executive Officer, Fleetwood
Grobler, and Chief Financial Officer, Hanré Rossouw, will
present the results at 09h00 (SA time) on 26
February 2024, followed by a market call to address
questions.
Please connect to the call via the webcast link:
https://www.corpcam.com/Sasol26022024 or via teleconference
call link:
https://services.choruscall.za.com/DiamondPassRegistration/register?confirmationNumber=9724124&linkSecurityString=1c4fef5a7c
* Adjusted EBITDA is calculated by adjusting operating profit
for depreciation, amortisation, share-based payments, remeasurement
items, change in discount rates of our rehabilitation provisions,
all unrealised translation gains and losses, and all unrealised
gains and losses on our derivatives and hedging activities.
** Core HEPS is calculated by adjusting headline earnings with
non-recurring items, earnings losses of significant capital
projects (exceeding R4 billion) which have reached beneficial
operation and are still ramping up, all translation gains and
losses (realised and unrealised), all gains and losses on our
derivatives and hedging activities (realised and unrealised), and
share-based payments on implementation of Broad-Based Black
Economic Empowerment (BBBEE) transactions. Adjustments in relation
to the valuation of our derivatives at period end are to remove
volatility from earnings as these instruments are valued using
forward curves and other market factors at the reporting date and
could vary from period to period. We believe core headline earnings
are a useful measure of the group´s sustainable operating
performance.
Adjusted EBITDA and Core HEPS are not defined terms under
International Financial Reporting Standards and may not be
comparable with similarly titled measures reported by other
companies. The aforementioned adjustments are the responsibility of
the directors of Sasol. The adjustments have been prepared for
illustrative purposes only and due to their nature, may not fairly
present Sasol´s financial position, changes in equity, results of
operations or cash flows.
For further information, please contact:
Sasol Investor Relations,
Tiffany Sydow, VP Investor
Relations
Telephone: +27 (0) 71 673 1929
investor.relations@sasol.com
Disclaimer - Forward-looking statements
Sasol may, in this document, make certain statements that are
not historical facts and relate to analyses and other information
which are based on forecasts of future results and estimates of
amounts not yet determinable. These statements may also relate to
our future prospects, expectations, developments, and business
strategies. Examples of such forward-looking statements include,
but are not limited to, the capital cost of our projects and the
timing of project milestones; our ability to obtain financing to
meet the funding requirements of our capital investment programme,
as well as to fund our ongoing business activities and to pay
dividends; statements regarding our future results of operations
and financial condition, and regarding future economic performance
including cost containment, cash conservation programmes and
business optimisation initiatives; recent and proposed accounting
pronouncements and their impact on our future results of operations
and financial condition; our business strategy, performance
outlook, plans, objectives or goals; statements regarding future
competition, volume growth and changes in market share in the
industries and markets for our products; our existing or
anticipated investments, acquisitions of new businesses or the
disposal of existing businesses, including estimates or projection
of internal rates of return and future profitability; our estimated
oil, gas and coal reserves; the probable future outcome of
litigation, legislative, regulatory and fiscal developments,
including statements regarding our ability to comply with future
laws and regulations; future fluctuations in refining margins and
crude oil, natural gas and petroleum and chemical product prices;
the demand, pricing and cyclicality of oil, gas and petrochemical
product prices; changes in the fuel and gas pricing mechanisms in
South Africa and their effects on
prices, our operating results and profitability; statements
regarding future fluctuations in exchange and interest rates and
changes in credit ratings; total shareholder return; our current or
future products and anticipated customer demand for these products;
assumptions relating to macroeconomics; climate change impacts and
our climate change strategies, our development of sustainability
within our businesses, our energy efficiency improvement, carbon
and greenhouse gas emission reduction targets, our net zero carbon
emissions ambition and future low-carbon initiatives, including
relating to green hydrogen and sustainable aviation fuel; our
estimated carbon tax liability; cyber security; and statements of
assumptions underlying such statements. Words such as "believe",
"anticipate", "expect", "intend", "seek", "will", "plan", "could",
"may", "endeavour", "target", "forecast" and "project" and similar
expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements but
are not the exclusive means of identifying such statements. By
their very nature, forward-looking statements involve inherent
risks and uncertainties, both general and specific, and there are
risks that the predictions, forecasts, projections, and other
forward-looking statements will not be achieved. If one or more of
these risks materialise, or should underlying assumptions prove
incorrect, our actual results may differ materially from those
anticipated. You should understand that a number of important
factors could cause actual results to differ materially from the
plans, objectives, expectations, estimates and intentions expressed
in such forward-looking statements. These factors and others are
discussed more fully in our most recent annual report on Form 20-F
filed on 1 September 2023 and in
other filings with the United States Securities and Exchange
Commission. The list of factors discussed therein is not
exhaustive; when relying on forward-looking statements to make
investment decisions, you should carefully consider foregoing
factors and other uncertainties and events, and you should not
place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Forward-looking
statements apply only as of the date on which they are made, and we
do not undertake any obligation to update or revise any of them,
whether as a result of new information, future events or
otherwise.
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SOURCE Sasol Limited
