Sasol Ltd (JO:SOLJ) announced on Monday that it would not pay a dividend after reporting a 31% decline in half-year profit, citing weaker oil prices and lower sales volumes.

Key Financial Highlights

• Earnings Decline:

  • Headline earnings per share fell to 14.13 rand ($0.7712) from 20.37 rand a year ago.
  • Revenue declined 10% to 122.1 billion rand, primarily due to a 13% drop in the average rand price per barrel of Brent crude and lower refining margins.
  • Adjusted EBITDA dropped 15% YoY to 23.9 billion rand, while EBIT tumbled 40% to 9.5 billion rand due to non-cash impairments.

• Financial Position:

  • Despite challenges, cash generated from operations rose 20% to 17.6 billion rand due to working capital improvements.
  • Capital expenditure decreased 6% to 15.0 billion rand.
  • However, net debt stood at $4.3 billion, surpassing Sasol's capital allocation policy limits.

• Dividend Decision:

  • Sasol opted to withhold a dividend, citing negative free cash flow of 1.1 billion rand and a need to maintain financial stability.

For a deeper financial analysis of Sasol's financial performance, check out Full Financials API.