Sasol profit plunges 66% on weak chemical prices, skips final dividend (updated)

Sasol

20/08/2024 06:43

(Adds details on dividend policy change in paragraphs 4-6)
       Aug 20 (Reuters) - South African petrochemicals company
Sasol  SOLJ.J  reported a 66% fall in full-year profit on
Tuesday, mainly due to weaker chemical prices, and skipped a
final dividend.
    Sasol posted 11.5 billion rand ($648.47 million) headline
earnings in the year to June 30, compared with 33.8 billion rand
during the same period last year.
    It did not declare a final dividend, leaving the interim 2
rand per share declared at half-year as the full-year payout for
the 2024 financial year.
    Sasol said it changed its dividend policy, which was
previously based on 2.5-2.8 times core headline earnings per
share, to 30% of free cash flow generated, provided that net
debt is below $4 billion on a sustained basis.
        "The disconnect between headline earnings and cashflow
generation, as well as elevated leverage levels, has
necessitated a revision to the company's dividend policy," Sasol
said in a statement.
  
        Its $4.1 billion net debt for 2024 exceeds the net debt
trigger in the new dividend, resulting in no final dividend
being declared at the year-end, the company added.
  
                   

($1 = 17.7341 rand)

 (Reporting by Nelson Banya; Editing by Jacqueline Wong and
Eileen Soreng)
 ((Nelson.Banya@thomsonreuters.com;))