Sasol, the world’s top maker of oil from coal, posted a 10% rise in annual headline earnings per share, lifted by an increase in the price of oil and weakening of the rand, it said on Monday.
In the biggest affirmative action deal in South Africa yet, South Africa’s Sasol said will sell a 10% stake for a total of R17,9-billion.
Sasol, which under its previous management attracted sharp criticism from the government for dragging its feet on Black Economic Empowerment (BEE), said it will sell the stake to black investors, staff and the public. BEE aims to redress the exclusion of blacks from the economy under apartheid.
Sasol said headline EPS rose to R25,37 in the year to end-June, in line with the top end of its guidance given in June this year. Headline EPS is the main profit measure in South Africa, and strips out capital, non-trading and certain extraordinary items.
Shutdowns at its synthetic fuels plants eroded some of the gains the company would have made, Sasol said in a statement.
Cash spent on capital projects was R12-billion, of which R6,5-billion or 54% was invested in South African operations, Sasol said.
Sasol said technical problems that had hindered the smooth operations of its Oryx gas-to-liquids (GTL) plant in Qatar, were being resolved.
Sasol was also considering building an 80 000 barrels per day inland coal-to-liquids refinery in South Africa, and was conducting a pre-feasibility study, it said.
The group also said it would maintain 2008 earnings at the same level as that of the 2007 year, despite anticipated lower product margins and costs associated with its growth programme.
Sasol said it would pay a final dividend of R5,90 per share, up 37% on the previous year.
Shares in Sasol ended at R284,90 on Friday. – Reuters