Sasol Ltd\u2019s record share plunge on Monday, coming as the oil price slumped and just days after the company credit rating was cut to junk by Moody\u2019s Investors Service, is raising concern among investors that it may need to hold a rights offer as it struggles with an about $8 billion debt burden.<\/p>\n
The fuel and chemicals producer, South Africa\u2019s biggest company by sales, delayed an investor call scheduled for Tuesday until March 17, noting that its oil price exposure for the rest of the fiscal year is not hedged. While the company has assumed oil will stay in a range of $50 to $70 a barrel, Brent crude fell as low as $31 on Monday.<\/p>\n
Its stock fell 47% by the close in Johannesburg, giving it a market value of R53 billion ($3.3 billion).<\/p>\n
\u201cIf oil prices stay close to current market levels for a long period of time Sasol may have to consider a rights issue to fund cash shortfalls,\u201d said Asief Mohamed, founder and chief investment officer at Cape Town\u2019s Aeon Investment Management, which holds stock in the company.<\/p>\n
Sasol\u2019s plan to expand its business abroad with the Lake Charles Chemicals Project in Louisiana has turned sentiment against the company, with costs surging about 50% to almost $13 billion and the company disclosing mismanagement in the way the operation was run. That led to the departure of its co-chief executive officers in October.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe will continue to keep all of our options under regular review in these challenging market conditions<\/span>,\u201d said Sasol spokesman Alex Anderson when asked if there would be a rights offer.<\/p>\n The company\u2019s borrowing costs have surged. The yield on $750 million of notes due 2028 climbed for a fourth day on Monday, jumping 93 basis points to 6.61%, the highest since January 2019.<\/p>\n The company\u2019s net debt was R125.2 billion as of June 30, more than twice the level two years earlier.<\/p>\n \u201cFor Sasol the oil-price collapse means that their already fragile balance sheet will come under even more pressure,\u201d said Michele Santangelo, a money manager at Independent Securities in Johannesburg.<\/p>\n \u201cThe longer the oil price stays suppressed the more pressure Sasol will have to review and restructure their operations.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThis allows more time to assess the impact of these latest developments on the market and Sasol in particular,\u201d it said in a statement. \u201cBalance-sheet protection remains a key priority.\u201d<\/p>\n
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