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Sasol says H1 profit falls 24 pct, cuts dividend amid low oil prices

Published 2016-03-07, 01:27 a/m
© Reuters. Sasol says H1 profit falls 24 pct, cuts dividend amid low oil prices
SOLJ
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JOHANNESBURG, March 7 (Reuters) - South African
petrochemicals company Sasol SOLJ.J on Monday posted a 24
percent drop in first-half earnings and cut its interim dividend
by almost 19 percent amid low oil prices.
Sasol said headline earnings - a key profit measure that
strips out some one-off items - fell to 24.28 rand per share in
the six months ended Dec. 31, 2015, from 32 rand per share in
the same period a year earlier.
The company had flagged that it expected earnings to fall
23-28 percent, dragged down by a 47 percent fall in the oil
price for the period.
Commodity chemical prices were also lower, but the company
said the rand's ZAR=D3 24 percent fall against the U.S. dollar
"provided a partial buffer."
Sasol has focused on cash conservation to contend with
depressed oil prices and said its "response plan" had realised
10.8 billion rand ($702 million) in cash savings over the
period.
The company said it now expects to save between 65 billion
rand and 75 billion rand by financial year 2018, up from its
previous target of 30 billion rand to 50 billion rand.
Headcount reductions have been part of the process, "not all
of which will be sustainable in the longer term," it said.
Sasol also said it had decided to review its long-term
strategic interest in its Uzbekistan gas-to-liquids investment
and that it expects the review to be completed in the second
half of the 2016 financial year.
Sasol's Canadian shale gas assets generated a loss from
operations of almost 7.7 billion rand, including an impairment
of 7.4 billion rand, underscoring the impact of low gas prices
on the sector.
($1 = 15.3823 rand)

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