Sasol warned shareholders on January 26 it expected to report on Monday its interim headline earnings per share (HEPS) declined by up to 44%. The chemicals group said it expected to report HEPS of between R8.26 to R10.68 from the matching period’s R24.28. The drop was partly due to a foreign exchange loss of R1.3bn for the six months to end-December from a R2.6bn gain in the matching period, Sasol said in its trading statement. A strike at its Secunda coal mine caused production to fall 16%, and the coal-to-oil plant the mine supplies had to buy coal, adding about R1bn to Sasol’s costs. Sasol’s share price fell 1% to R370.40 on Friday, taking its losses since it issued its trading statement to 14%.
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