The market doesn't appear convinced so far by Sasol's attempts to reduce debt through asset disposals. Its shares failed to recover last week following the announcement at the beginning of the month of the proposed sale of a 50% stake in its base chemicals business at Lake Charles in the US. The second hurricane in as many months to hit Louisiana, where Lake Charles is situated, didn't help either. While the company's debt remains under scrutiny, so does its commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Shareholder activism organisation Just Share says the group's 2020 Climate Change Report, while going further than last year, is still not ambitious enough. More on that to follow in your first newsletter of the week, along with PPC's long-awaited annual results which show a loss more than twice as big as its market capitalisation. Meanwhile, Steinhoff says it's making progress with a potential settlement with aggrieved shareholders following the collapse in its share price after accounting fraud was detected almost three years ago. And Exxaro says reports of the sale of its stake in Black Mountain Mining were premature. Finally, Chris Gilmour reports that economic growth in the US is faltering ahead of new month's presidential election. I hope you have a good week. Stephen Gunnion Managing Editor, InceConnect
The latest from Ingham Analytics Last Friday, Ingham Analytics issued anEnergy Monitorentitled"Over a barrel?"which looks at latest developments in energy markets affecting companies such as BHP, ExxonMobil and Sasol. The shape of a potential future economic recovery based on data out of the US and Europe is examined in"Fuhgeddaboudit!" |