- capital portfolio phasing and reductions - target of R13 billion to R22
billion;
- capital structuring - target of R8 billion to R12 billion;
- further cash cost reductions - target of R4 billion to R7 billion of which R1
billion per annum will be considered sustainable at the end of the 30-month period;
and
- working capital and margin improvements - target of R5 billion to R9 billion.
As previously announced, decisive measures have already been agreed to and key decisions have been taken to conserve cash, including the delay of our gas-to-liquids (GTL) plant in the US, the change to our dividend policy as well as the further optimisation of our organisational structures.
Profit outlook (*)- strong production performance and cost reductions to continue
The global economic environment remains volatile and uncertain. We expect oil prices to remain low for the rest of the 2015 calendar year. We also expect the rand exchange rate to be impacted by quantitative easing in the Eurozone, uncertainties relating to the interest rate normalisation by key central banks and infrastructure constraints in South Africa. Both oil price and rand exchange rate developments are outside of our influence, and therefore our focus remains firmly on factors within our control, which include volume growth, margin improvement and cost optimisation.
Oil and other commodity price risk hedging are evaluated on an ongoing basis. The market is constantly monitored for risk management opportunities, taking cognisance of integration benefits and the strength of Sasol's balance sheet.
We expect an overall strong production performance for the 2015 financial year, with:
- Liquid fuels product volumes for the Energy SBU in Southern Africa to be
approximately 59 million barrels;
- The average utilisation rate at ORYX GTL in Qatar to be above 90% of nameplate
capacity;
- Base Chemicals normalised sales volumes to be slightly higher than the
previous financial year with margins under pressure due to lower international oil
prices;
- Performance Chemicals sales volumes to outperform the previous financial year
on the back of increased market demand;
- Average Brent crude oil prices to be at least 30% lower during the second half
of the financial year compared to the first half;
- Normalised cash fixed costs to follow SA PPI;
- Capital expenditure of R45 billion for 2015, R65 billion in 2016 and R60
billion in 2017 as we progress with the execution of our growth plan and strategy;
- Our balance sheet gearing up to a level of between 2% and 7% at year-end; and
- The Response Plan cash flow contribution from all streams to range between R6
billion and R10 billion.
(*) The financial information contained in this profit outlook is the responsibility of the directors and in accordance with standard practice, it is noted that this information has not been reviewed and reported on by the company's auditors.
Declaration of cash dividend number 71
An interim gross cash dividend of South African 700,00 cents per ordinary share (31 December 2013 - 800,00 cents per ordinary share) has been declared for the six months ended 31 December 2014. The interim cash dividend is payable on the ordinary shares and the Sasol BEE ordinary shares. The dividend has been declared out of retained earnings (income reserves). The South African dividend withholding tax rate is 15% and no credits in terms of secondary tax on companies have been utilised. At the declaration date, there are 650 879 016 Sasol ordinary, 25 547 081 Sasol preferred ordinary and 2 838 565 Sasol BEE ordinary shares in issue. The net dividend amount payable to shareholders, who are not exempt from the dividend withholding tax, is 595,00 cents per share, while the dividend amount payable to shareholders who are exempt from dividend withholding tax is 700,00 cents per share.
The salient dates for holders of ordinary shares and Sasol BEE ordinary shares are:
Declaration date Monday, 9 March 2015
Last day for trading to qualify for and participate in the
final dividend (cum dividend) Wednesday, 1 April 2015
Trading ex dividend commences Thursday, 2 April 2015
Record date Friday, 10 April 2015
Dividend payment date Monday, 13 April 2015
The salient dates for holders of our American Depository Receipts are [1]:
Ex dividend on New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) Wednesday, 8 April 2015
Record date Friday, 10 April 2015
Approximate date of currency conversion Tuesday, 14 April 2015
Approximate dividend payment date Thursday, 23 April 2015
1. All dates are approximate as the NYSE sets the record date after receipt of the dividend declaration.
On Monday, 13 April 2015, dividends due to certificated shareholders on the South African registry will either be electronically transferred to shareholders' bank accounts or, in the absence of suitable mandates, dividend cheques will be posted to such shareholders. Shareholders who hold dematerialised shares will have their accounts held by their CSDP or broker credited on Monday, 13 April 2015.
Share certificates may not be dematerialised or re-materialised between Thursday, 2 April 2015 and Friday, 10 April 2015, both days inclusive.
Conference call webcast available on Sasol's website
David Constable, President and Chief Executive Officer and Paul Victor, Group Financial Controller will host an analyst conference call and webcast at 15h00 (South Africa) / 13h00 (United Kingdom) / 08h00 (US EDT) to discuss the results. The conference call webcast can be accessed from Sasol's website http://www.sasol.com.
Detailed supplementary information regarding the interim financial results, such as the conference call presentation, the full earnings release and the analyst book, is available on the Investor Centre on http://www.sasol.com.
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