Sasol has made good progress and expects to meet most of its financial guidance for the 2025 financial year, with volume guidance achieved across most business segments.
The group said for the year to end-June, its earnings per share (EPS) were expected to increase by more than 20%, compared with a loss per share of R69.94 reported a year ago, which included negative remeasurement items of R88.13 per share.
The remeasurement items included substantial impairments that arose in the comparative period EPS and headline earnings per share (HEPS) may be affected further by adjustments resulting from the 2025 financial year closure process, which could not be estimated reliably now, it said.
Releasing its production and sales metrics on Tuesday, the group said its focus on self-help initiatives in a challenging macro environment continued to strengthen its foundation, build resilience and mitigate against the effects of global volatility and geopolitical uncertainty.
Secunda Operations (SO) and Natref had unplanned disruptions that affected production in the fourth quarter and resulted in volumes being marginally below guidance.
In the Southern Africa business, Sasol’s decision to reduce its own production of coal and supplement it with higher quality purchased coal to enhance SO’s gasifier performance bore fruit, with SO improving in the fourth quarter.
Natref’s performance was also stronger in the fourth quarter, with production recovering after the fire incident in the previous quarter, though it was adversely affected by an unplanned Eskom power outage.
Liquid fuels sales increased in the fourth quarter, supported by higher production and purchases, while external SA gas sales also improved, driven by increased customer demand.
In Chemicals Africa, the average basket price was higher compared to the previous quarter, despite challenging global market conditions.
In the International Chemicals business, fourth-quarter revenue increased, supported by higher sales volumes from improved US production. This was partly offset by lower average sales prices in the US due to lower ethylene market prices and product mix effects, however, pricing in the Eurasia segment improved through prioritising value realisation.
Revenue decreased compared to the previous year, primarily due to lower sales volumes, which remained within market guidance. Despite a challenging environment, adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (ebitda) improved compared with the year-earlier period, reflecting the benefits of higher average sales basket prices and proactive management actions, Sasol said.
Full-year saleable production in the mining division was 7% lower than the previous year but was within the market guidance of 28-million to 30-million tonnes. Sales volumes increased by 10% year on year supported by an improved Transnet Freight Rail performance. External sales are being phased out during the first quarter of the 2026 financial year, as per plan, to accommodate the destoning plant commissioning activities.
In Mozambique, full-year gas production was 1% higher despite the effect of the unrest experienced in the third quarter in that country.
The external gas sales in SA were 3% lower due to planned maintenance at the central processing facility (CPF) and the effect of the unrest in Mozambique.
In its fuels division, SO production volumes for the 2025 period were 4% lower due to coal quality challenges which affected gasifier availability, as well as unplanned factory outages during the year.
Natref’s 2025 financial year production was lower than the market guidance of 5%-10% below 2024 financial year and 17% lower than the prior year, affected by planned and unplanned outages.
Oryx GTL’s full-year production was 72% higher than the previous year, exceeding the market guidance of 50%-70% above the 2024 financial year. The increase was largely due to the shutdown of Train 2 in the 2024 financial year.
Liquid fuels sales volumes for the 2025 financial year were 2% lower than the previous year, in line with market guidance of 1%-3% below the 2024 financial year. Sales in the Commercial and Wholesale channels were adversely affected by lower production at SO and Natref, with higher external purchases being used to partially mitigate this effect.
Chemicals Africa’s full-year sales volumes were 2% lower than the previous quarter mainly due to lower Sasolburg production. Sales volumes were affected by lower chemicals production at Secunda and Sasolburg.
Chemicals America’s full-year sales volumes were 4% lower than the previous year, in line with market guidance of 2-4% below the 2024 financial year, affected by lower chemicals production at Secunda and Sasolburg.
In the Chemicals Eurasia unit 2025 financial year sales volumes were 4% lower than a year ago, driven by Sasol’s deliberate value-over-volume strategy, the mothballing of the alkylphenol plant and the weak economic environment. Despite lower volumes, overall profitability had improved, it said.
The group said engagements with stakeholders were ongoing with respect to the US tariffs, which were due to take effect on August 1, and it remained focused on ensuring continuity, mitigating potential disruptions, and identifying any opportunities for Sasol.
The group will release its annual financial results on August 25.
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