JOHANNESBURG, Aug. 4, 2022
/PRNewswire/ -- Sasol's financial performance for the year
ended 30 June 2022 (2022 financial
year) was underpinned by a favourable macroeconomic environment,
with higher crude oil prices, refining margins and chemicals prices
against a backdrop of heightened geopolitical tensions. This
resulted in a strong gross margin improvement from the prior year,
combined with robust cost and capital expenditure performance.
These benefits were partly offset by operational challenges in our
integrated South African value chains which resulted in lower
production, as reported in the annual business performance metrics
published on 25 July 2022
(https://www.sasol.com/investor-centre/financial-results).
Sasol´s adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and
amortisation (adjusted EBITDA**) for the 2022 financial year is
expected to increase by between 36% and 56% from R48,4 billion in
the prior year, to between R66,0 billion and R75,6 billion. This is
mostly due to a strong recovery in Brent crude oil and chemical
prices, partly offset by realised oil hedging losses and lower
Chemicals sales volumes.
Shareholders are advised that, for the 2022 financial year:
- Earnings per share (EPS) are expected to be between R60,59 and
R63,51 compared to the prior year earnings per share of R14,57
(representing an increase of more than 100%);
- Headline earnings per share (HEPS) are expected to be between
R42,84 and R50,74 compared to the prior year headline earnings per
share of R39,53 (representing an increase by between 8% and 28%);
and
- Core HEPS (CHEPS*) are expected to be between R65,21 and R70,76
compared to the prior year CHEPS of R27,74.
Notable non-cash adjustments (before taxation) for the 2022
financial year include:
- Unrealised losses of R5,2 billion on the translation of
monetary assets and liabilities and valuation of financial
instruments and derivative contracts;
- Net gain of R9,9 billion on remeasurement items, mainly due
to:
- a gain of R4,9 billion on the realisation of the foreign currency
translation reserve (FCTR) on the divestment of Sasol Canada's
shale gas assets;
- a gain of R3,7 billion on the divestment of 30% equity interest
in Republic of Mozambique Pipelines Company (ROMPCO);
- a gain of R2,9 billion on the realisation of FCTR on the
divestment of the European Wax business; and
- a R1,4 billion reversal of impairment on the Chemicals Work
Up & Heavy Alcohols value chain due to a higher price outlook
on the back of a sustained increase in demand for alcohols into the
personal hygiene market during and post the COVID-19 pandemic;
- partly offset by a loss on scrapping of property, plant and
equipment of R2,8 billion in the Chemicals America
segment.
The financial information on which this trading statement is
based has not been reviewed and reported on by the Company's
external auditors.
Sasol will release its 2022 annual financial results on Tuesday,
23 August 2022 at 09h00
(SA time) followed by a conference call hosted by Fleetwood Grobler, our President and Chief
Executive Officer and Hanré Rossouw, our Chief Financial
Officer.
Please connect to the call via the webcast link:
https://www.corpcam.com/Sasol23082022 or via teleconference call
link:
https://services.choruscall.za.com/DiamondPassRegistration/register?confirmationNumber=3629805&linkSecurityString=7a93dfa35.
* 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 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.
Adjusted EBITDA and Core HEPS are not defined terms under IFRS
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.
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 impact of the novel coronavirus
(COVID-19) pandemic, and measures taken in response, on Sasol's
business, results of operations, markets, employees, financial
condition and liquidity; the effectiveness of any actions taken by
Sasol to address or limit any impact of COVID-19 on its business;
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
Energy and Chemicals Businesses, our energy efficiency improvement,
carbon and GHG 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 22 September 2021 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.
For further information, please contact:
Investor Relations:
Tiffany Sydow
VP Investor Relations
+27 (0)71 673 1929
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SOURCE Sasol Limited