Chemicals and energy group Sasol expects its half-year profits to decline by 28%-42%, reflecting the drop in oil and chemical prices and compounded by SA’s electricity and logistics crises.
In a trading update on Friday, Sasol said headline earnings per share (Heps) are likely to drop to R17.90-R22.22 in the six months to end-December from the R30.90 in the same period a year earlier.
Adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (ebitda), or core profit, will be R26.2bn-R29.4bn, down 8%-18% year on year.
The shares ended Friday’s session down 3.9% at R146.55.
Sasol is also in a difficult position as it needs to reduce its carbon emissions without sacrificing profits. It is the largest emitter of greenhouse emissions in SA after power utility Eskom and is under pressure from investors and environmentalists to decarbonise its operations.
While Sasol has a plan and targets to free its various businesses from environmentally damaging fossil fuels, it is often criticised for lacking detail on how it will execute the strategy, a stance the group has rejected.
Sasol, whose Secunda plant is the biggest single emitter of greenhouse gases in the world, aims to cut its emissions by 30% by 2028 and to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050 as part of its decarbonisation strategy.
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