JOHANNESBURG, Feb. 7, 2023
/PRNewswire/ -- Sasol is expected to deliver a mixed set of
results for the six months ended 31 December 2022, benefitting
from the stronger oil price, refining margins and weaker Rand/US
Dollar exchange rate. This was, however, offset by the impacts of
weaker global economic growth, depressed chemicals prices and
higher feedstock and energy costs. Our South African operations
also experienced several operational challenges, most notably in
the Mining business, where coal productivity and quality have been
below plan. This was exacerbated by supply chain constraints
related to poor rail performance, unavailability of port
infrastructure impacting our sales volumes, as well as power
outages impacting our suppliers and customers.
Shareholders are advised that, for the 2023 financial half
year:
- Earnings per share (EPS) are expected to be
between R21,55 and R23,98 compared to the prior half year EPS of
R23,98 (representing a decrease of between 0% and 10%);
- Headline earnings per share (HEPS) are expected to be between
R29,84 and R31,36 compared to the prior half year HEPS of R15,21
(representing an improvement of more than 95%); and
- Core HEPS (CHEPS**) are expected to be between R22,97 and R25,23
compared to the prior half year CHEPS of R22,52 (representing an
increase of between 2% and 12%).
Sasol's adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and
amortisation (adjusted EBITDA*) for the six months ended
31 December 2022 is expected to be in
line with the prior half year of R31,8bn.
Notable non-cash adjustments (before taxation) for the six
months ended 31 December 2022
include:
- Unrealised gains of R7,0 billion on the
translation of monetary assets and liabilities, and valuation of
financial instruments and derivative contracts; and
- Remeasurement items net loss of R6,4bn, mainly due to
- impairment of the Secunda liquid fuels refinery cash generating
unit (CGU) of R8,1bn due to an update in macroeconomic price
assumptions, including higher electricity price forecasts and lower
gas selling prices, and an update to the short-term volume forecast
to reflect near-term operational challenges;
- impairment of the South African wax CGU of R0,9bn driven by
higher cost to procure gas in the longer term, and lower sales
volumes and prices due to increasingly competitive market
conditions;
- impairment of the Essential Care Chemicals CGU in Sasol China
of R0,9 billion resulting from a combination of lower margins and
higher costs largely due to the impact of the prolonged
restrictions associated with China's zero COVID-19 policy and despite these
restrictions recently being lifted; offset by
- the reversal of impairment processed in 2019 on the
Tetramerization CGU in Lake Charles of R3,6 billion, largely due to
a sustained improvement in plant reliability which has increased
co-monomer volumes available for sale and longer term contracts
having been signed with several customers to improve the overall
profitability of the business.
The financial information underpinning this trading statement
has not been reviewed and reported on by the Company's external
auditors.
Sasol will release its 2023 interim financial results on
Tuesday, 21 February 2023. Sasol's
President and Chief Executive Officer, Fleetwood Grobler, and Chief Financial Officer,
Hanré Rossouw, will present the results at 09h00 (SA time) on
21 February 2023, followed by a
market call to address questions.
Please connect to the call via the webcast link:
https://78449.themediaframe.com/links/sasol230221.html or via
teleconference call link:
https://services.choruscall.za.com/DiamondPassRegistration/register?confirmationNumber=5006357&linkSecurityString=c4593dfa0
* 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.
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 31 August 2022 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:
Sasol Investor Relations,
Tiffany Sydow, VP Investor
Relations
Telephone: +27 (0) 71 673 1929
investor.relations@sasol.com
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SOURCE Sasol Limited