Trading Day – Sasol quadruples earnings and declared first dividend in two years

Sasol quadrupled earnings, reporting earnings per share (EPS) of R62.34 and declaring a dividend of R14.70, their first in two years.

European energy prices surge to record levels.

Here is the biggest news of the day.

• Sasol quadrupled its earnings, reporting basic earnings per share (EPS) of R62.34 for its annual results, up from R14.57 last year. Earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) were also up by the same multiple, going from R16.6 billion to R61.4 billion. The increase was primarily driven by its South African operations, with the fuels business going from making a loss of R18.2 billion last year to a profit (EBIT) of R28 billion and chemicals Africa tripling its profit (EBIT) from R7 billion to R24 billion. The only segment bucking the profitable trend was chemicals America where EBIT contracted from R8.1 billion to just under R1 billion. However, turnover for this segment still grew by more than 30%, suggesting that Lake Charles’ commercial ramp-up is still ongoing.  
• European energy prices soar. Natural gas prices surged more than 20% on Monday, reaching a new record peak, while Europe’s benchmark electricity price jumped more than 25% to over 700 Euros per megawatt-hour for the first time.
• Buffalo Coal Corporation’s CFO, Willie Bezuidenhout, has tendered his resignation effective on 18 September. The board has appointed the current CEO, Emma Oosthuizen, as interim CFO while they finalize selecting a successor. Oosthuizen held this role before being appointed as CEO.
• Aveng earnings slump, but debt gets reduced. The company released its annual results and reported earnings per share (EPS) of R1.06, down significantly from R13.37 last year. Operating free cash inflow also halved from R1.5 billion to R612 million. The company was able to reduce its external debt from R879 million to R481 million.
• Merafe Resources sees a good increase in earnings for its half-year results, reporting earnings per share (EPS) of R0.37, up from R0.23 last year.
• Motus Holdings expect an increase in earnings for their full-year results, with earnings per share (EPS) of around R19.00, up over 60% from last year’s R11.53.
• Sun International expects to turn profitable again. The company expects their half-year results for earnings per share of around R0.92, up from a loss of R0.32 last year.