It was a bit of a quiet day for corporate news, with Sasol announcing that it would be pushing ahead with its green energy ambitions. International news reports that Uber is in talks to support fellow e-hailing service Moove.
Chemical and Energy Group Sasol announced on Monday that, together with Air Liquide, it has signed a third 110MW contract with Enel Green Power for the long-term supply of 330MW of renewable electricity to its Secunda, SA site. This follows the first two power purchase agreements announced in January 2023. The 330MW wind farm, located near Oyster Bay in the Eastern Cape, will be one of the largest wind farms in southern Africa, with an annual capacity of more than 2 million kW. 1 100GWh of clean energy. The wind farm he plans to be operational by 2026. This brings the total power purchase agreements contributing to renewable energy capacity secured by Sasol and Air Liquide to approximately 690MW. Approximately 430MW of this has now reached financial close.
Sasol too reported on Monday that volatile commodity prices weighed on it in the six months to the end of December, with sales and overall profit falling by just over a third to about R15.9 billion and R12.8 billion respectively. Eskom tariffs as well as the grim outlook for commodity prices also played a role in driving impairments, particularly the R3.9 billion Secunda liquid fuel refinery. The group cut its interim dividend by 71% to R2 per share. The report said: “At this stage the company is well-positioned to benefit from the transformation of the chemical cycle, but to ensure we maintain the strong balance sheet we need, we need to strengthen cash flow generation and prioritize We need to remain completely focused.” To cope with these extremely uncertain times. ” Sasol shares pared their earlier decline and ended the day down 2.4%. It has fallen about 46% in the past 12 months.
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