Sasol declares record dividend, buoyed by high crude, chemical prices | Fin24

Sasol’s artificial fuels plant in Secunda.

Sasol has declared a gross remaining money dividend of R14.70 per share for the yr resulted in June as excessive crude and chemical substances costs pushed earnings greater.

The dividend is the primary to be declared since 2019, additionally it is the best dividend per share paid by the artificial fuels and chemical substances group.

Sasol mentioned its board is happy that the liquidity and solvency of the corporate, in addition to capital adequacy remaining after cost of the dividend, are enough to assist the present operations for the following yr. 

Sasol on Tuesday delivered a robust set of economic outcomes having benefitted from greater oil and chemical substances costs, in addition to value and capital self-discipline.

Earnings earlier than curiosity and tax of R61.4 billion elevated considerably, up from R16.62 billion within the prior yr. Headline earnings grew 21% to R29.73 billion.

This was offset by decrease quantity efficiency primarily as a result of operational challenges skilled within the first half of the monetary yr. Sasol mentioned efficiency has since enhance as operations stabilised within the second half of the monetary yr.

“Monetary yr 2022 was characterised by quite a lot of elements impacting our enterprise, together with geopolitical tensions, additional Covid-19 lockdowns in China, weather-related occasions and world provide chain disruptions. These situations dampened world demand and triggered fears of recession in each superior and creating economies,” Sasol CEO, Fleetwood Grobler mentioned in a press release within the annual outcomes report.

“Amidst this volatility, we demonstrated resilience, delivering a robust set of economic outcomes for the yr in a posh and troublesome exterior setting.” 

He mentioned Sasol “considerably strengthened” its stability sheet and achieved its dividend set off targets set out at its Capital Markets Day in September 2021.

“I’m due to this fact more than happy to announce the re-introduction of dividends for monetary yr 2022. We stay dedicated to ship and improve, sustainable returns to our shareholders,” Grobler mentioned.