|
|
Sasol and Deutsche deny collusion to hurt the Rand
Deutsche Bank denied allegation's by Kevin Wakeford, the CE of the SA Chamber of Business (Sacob), that it and Sasol colluded in a complex plot to profit from the Rand collapse. Niall Carroll, the MD of Deutsche Bank Securities, said there was no reason the bank would hammer the Rand through an elaborately structured finance deal. Carroll was commenting on a letter published in the Financial Mail purporting to be the document that Wakeford sent president Thabo Mbeki on dubious financial methods used to hurt the Rand's value.
The letter alleges Deutsche Bank and Sasol crafted a shifty asset swap structure to fund a portion of Sasol's $1.14bn acquisition of Condea. In terms of the structure, Sasol sold newly issued shares to Deutsche in London for foreign capital. The transaction left Deutsche overexposed to the Rand, which induced the sale of Rands by Deutsche into the domestic market, thereby weakening the currency. Carroll said the allegations in the letter were inaccurate, defamatory, and without foundation. He said that the asset swap was legitimate, with the permission of the Reserve Bank and was currency neutral. Pieter Cox, the CE of Sasol, also denied the allegations and would not comment until the company had appeared before the commission.
|
| |
Sasol to pour $10bn into new offshore plants
Sasol said in their latest Sasol Review, that they expect to invest $10bn in gas-to-liquids plants around the world over the next 10 years. John Sichinga, manager of Sasol Synfuels International, said that gas-to-liquids was an emerging industry that had gone through its formative stages and was about to take off. The Sasol-Chevron joint venture was also announced, that it planned to develop a $1.1bn gas-to-liquids plant in Western Australia. The 45 000 barrels a day plant will be Sasol Chevron's third gas-to-liquids plant with similar projects in Nigeria and Qatar due to start production in 2005. Sasol is also looking at opportunities in the Caribbean, Venezuela and other natural gas rich parts of the world.
|
| |
Sasol puts analyst book on website
Sasol has made available additional financial & production volumes information in the Sasol Analyst Book. The Sasol Analyst Book is a resource tool for analysts, shareholders and others seeking detailed financial and operating information about the company. The Sasol Analyst Book can be downloaded from the Sasol website at http://www.sasol.com
|
|
Click here for original article
|
| |
Sasol installs giant oxygen plant
Sasol announced that the world's largest oxygen plant would be installed at its Secunda complex in Mpumalanga. The new unit will be installed by Air Liquide of France, and will have a daily capacity of 3 550 tons of oxygen with a purity of 98.5%. The oxygen is used to gassify coal, and the gas is then used to produce synthetic fuels and chemicals. Sasol did not say how much the multi million Rand investment cost, citing commercial confidentiality between itself and Air Liquide. Fourteen oxygen units are already in operation at Secunda, but the new unit would be the largest, and also the world's largest oxygen plant. Sasol CE Pieter Cox said that the installation of the new oxygen unit signified the commitment to continued investment in the SA economy. The new unit will represent state of the art oxygen production technology, in accordance with the advanced Synthol technology.
|
| |
Sasol re-appoints CE for further term of office
The board has re-appointed Mr Cox as CE for a further term of office to the end of Sep 2005.
|
|
Click here for original article
|
| |
Sasol plans to buy rival fuel stations
Sasol wants to buy service stations from other oil companies to help meet its target of deploying a chain of 300 branded petrol service stations in SA from 2004. Sasol CE, Pieter Cox, said that Sasol already owned a substantial percentage of the 300 planned outlets, and would be prepared to develop further greenfield sites. This would give Sasol about 10% to 12% of the SA retail fuel market. Sasol's service station strategy will follow the expiry of a supply agreement between Sasol and the other oil companies, which has kept Sasol on the fringes of the retail market.
|
| |
Sasol plans for $1.1bn Australian plant
Sasol CE, Pieter Cox, said that the company plans to establish a 45 000 barrel a day gas-to liquid fuel plant in Australia. A final decision on the $1.1bn project, which would be conducted with Sasol's global partner ChevronTexaco, was expected before the end of 2002. Sasol's export and offshore earnings already constitute 57% of the company's gross income. Cox said Sasol was well advanced with gas-to-liquid projects in Nigeria and in Qatar, and once these were operational there was ample scope for them to be expanded. The venture in northwestern Australia would be the third largest offshore project. Sasol was weighing up potential projects in a further five gas-rich areas, of which the one in Australia was the most advanced.
|
| |
Sasol expected to perform well
Merrill Lynch is forecasting that Sasol will report a 15.5% rise in HEPS in its results for the six months to Dec 2001. Sasol's performance has been helped by the decline in the value of the Rand. Merrill Lynch analysts noted that Sasol's earnings are more sensitive to the Rand-Dollar exchange rate than to the oil price, which has come down since its peak in the aftermath of the attacks in the US. The Merrill Lynch report published on 5 Mar 02 said that they were expecting a 685cps (593cps) headline earnings a share figure for the interim results, however pointed out that this depended heavily on the performance of the chemicals division, which was more difficult to forecast. Merrill Lynch has also increased its 12 month price objective for the Sasol share from R120 a share to R130. Sasol's share price ended at R114.20 on the JSE on 8 Mar 02.
|
| |
Sasol buys 50% share in blasting firm
Sasol said that its chemical division, Sasol Chemical Industries (SCI), has acquired a 50% share of Roche Blasting Services from Downer EDI of Australia. The value of the transaction has not been disclosed, and the deal was contingent on the necessary approvals being received from the SA Reserve Bank and other relevant regulatory bodies. Roche Blasting Services is an Australian blasting services company established in late 2000 by the mining services division of Downer EDI, Roche Mining. SCI would provide Roche Blasting Services with the required security of supply of essential raw materials, as well as technical and operational resources to achieve growth in the Australian mining industry.
|
| |
| |
|
| Closing price data source: JSE Ltd. All other statistics calculated by ProfileData. |
| |
|
|
