COMPANY NEWS IN BRIEF

Sasol cuts dividend as earnings plummetSasol has cut its final dividend for the year ended in June to R10 per share, down 32% from the R14.70 per share declared last year, as earnings plummeted.The synthetic fuels and chemicals giant on Tuesday reported its annual earnings before interest and tax declined 65% from R61.4 billion in 2022, to R21.5 billion for the 12 months to end June 2023. Basic earnings per share fell 78% from R62.34 to R14.This, Sasol said, was mainly due to the impairment of assets – including a R35 billion write-down of its Secunda facility – the inflationary impact on costs, the softening of the Brent crude oil price and refining margins in the latter part of the year. Chemicals basket prices were on a declining trend during 2023.Operating profit of R55.4 billion before remeasurement items increased 8% from the prior year, benefitting from gains on the translation of monetary assets and liabilities and valuation of financial instruments and derivative contracts of R6 billion, compared to R17.6 billion in losses in 2022.Sasol said its financial results for the year were impacted by the volatile global economic landscape and the underperformance of state-owned enterprises in South Africa, which continue to impact both its fuel and chemical businesses. -Fin24Panado maker Adcock Ingram lifts earningsDrug maker Adcock Ingram has reported a double-digit increase in full-year earnings and dividends even as the seller of brands such as Corenza C and Panado navigated a weak economy that saw consumers coming under increasing pressure.The company, valued at about R9 billion on the JSE and which is controlled by industrial conglomerate Bidvest, reported on Wednesday that its headline earnings per share for the year to end June 2023 had increased 12% to 561.3c, while its total dividend increased 17% to 250c per share. The company's revenue came in 5% higher at about R9.1 billion, while it managed to raise its trading profit 6% to about R1.2 billion, helped by increased price-regulated drug prices.It described its results as a "healthy financial and operational performance" amid a weak economy characterised by currency weakness and volatility. It also noted that SA's cash-strapped consumers had also been constrained during the period.Adcock Ingram imports inventory and equipment from foreign suppliers, so the fallout from rand weakness is keenly felt by the company.The company, however, welcomed the recent 1.73% "top-up" of the price increase threshold for products regulated by pricing controls, saying this would help mitigate margin pressures on the affected products it sold.-Fin24Pepkor boss loses case against SARSPieter Erasmus, the CEO of retailer Pepkor, has failed in his bid to have a R320 million tax bill set aside.Erasmus, who is in his second stint as Pepkor's CEO, took the tax agency to court in early 2021 after it said an audit found him liable for R183 million in back taxes and R137 million in understatement penalties. According to the SA Revenue Service (SARS) the back taxes stem from a R1.4 billion distribution that Erasmus and his family trust received in 2015 from a company called Treemo. Around R167 million was paid via a capital distribution and R1.22 billion via a cash distribution. Erasmus and his family trust were both shareholders in Treemo. While SARS said the Pepkor boss sought to avoid paying his fair share of tax on the distribution via an "impermissible tax avoidance arrangement," Erasmus accused the agency of not understating the deal. He said that the distributions he and the trust received were fully exempt from tax. The R167 million capital payout was tax free, he said, as it constituted a return of capital. -Fin24Aveng crashes into a hefty lossInfrastructure and resources group Aveng said on Tuesday it swung into a headline loss approaching its R978 million market value, following delays at a gas project in the Philippines.The group reported a headline loss of R950 million for the year to end-June, from earnings of R308 million previously, despite its revenue from continuing operations increasing by 28% to R28.9 billion. But the group said it was pleased with a R2.4 billion in cash on hand, while its combined work in hand has jumped by two-thirds.Once SA's biggest construction firms, Aveng's core businesses are mining contractor Moolmans and specialist contractor McConnell Dowell, the latter of which suffered a full R1.24 billion loss on its Batangas LNG Terminal Project.The liquefied natural gas (LNG) project has been the subject of significant delays and disruption caused by the pandemic, including related supply chain disruptions and the inability to mobilise people to the requisite locations to efficiently execute work, the company said. Border closures and later supply-chain disruptions, exacerbated by the war in Ukraine, added to the pressure.-Fin24

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