Sasol Limited (SSL)

[Timothy Smith]

Sasol (NYSE:SSL) reports a profit of 29.7B South African rand ($2.14B) for FY 2015 ended June 30, up 0.5% Y/Y, on 8.6% lower revenue of 185.3B rand, in line with expectations, as the company cut costs to cope with lower crude oil prices.

Average Brent crude oil prices fell 33% from the prior year, but the decrease was partially offset by a 10% weaker average U.S. dollar-to-rand exchange rate over the same period; “as the rand weakens, every $0.10 adds 650M rand to our bottom line,” says CEO David Constable.

The CEO says the company will conserve 30B-50B rand between Jan. 1, 2015 and June 30, 2017, with 8.9B rand conserved in the first six months of this year, which means pulling back on capital projects in addition to buyouts and early retirements; “I think [the moves] will put us in pretty good shape to weather the storm here.”