Sasol Shares Rise 5 Percent to R253 as Higher Oil and Hormuz Shipping Strikes Lift the Stock

JOHANNESBURG — Sasol shares rose 5.4 percent on Thursday, one of the few local gainers on a weak tape, as higher oil prices tied to strikes on ships in the Strait of Hormuz lifted a company that turns crude and coal into fuel.

The stock traded at 25,335 South African cents, or R253.35, up 1,289 cents, or 5.36 percent. Wednesday's close was R240.46, itself up 1.9 percent. Through the session the shares traded from about R242.51 to a high near R249.80 before the late print pushed past that. Volume was above 1.2 million shares. The market value is about R156 billion. Earnings per share are R38.31. The price-to-earnings ratio is about 6.3. The dividend is R2 a share, a yield under 1 percent at this price. The shares are up about 126 percent from R106.20 at the start of the year.

Business Day, in its Thursday stock note, said Sasol swam against the tide and led gains on a depressed day. The counter is one of the few beneficiaries of higher oil as supply concerns rose on increased strikes on ships moving through the Strait of Hormuz. The company was not quoted. No new production figure or guidance was filed with the move.

Sasol's earnings move with the oil price and the rand, and with the spread between what it pays for feedstock and what it gets for fuel and chemicals. A higher crude price helps the synthetic-fuel and refining book. It does not, by itself, fix the chemicals cycle or the cost of running Secunda. The stock's year-to-date double is the market already having priced a recovery from last year's lows. Thursday's 5 percent is the oil headline added to that.

The broader Johannesburg market was lower with miners, in line with a regional session that sold risk after oil jumped and U.S. yields stayed elevated. A fuel producer rising while iron-ore names fall is the split the oil spike creates. Sasol has been on the right side of that split for three sessions: up 1.1 percent on Monday, 1.3 percent on Tuesday, 1.9 percent on Wednesday, and 5.4 percent on Thursday.

Analysts have not all followed the price. Earlier notes this year flagged skepticism after the rally and warned the shares could slip if crude reversed. Thursday's crude did not reverse. The AGM is listed around Nov. 16. Until the next production update, R253 is a mark on the barrel and the strait, not on a new Sasol number. The company sells fuel into a market that is paying more for it because fewer ships are getting through. That is the whole of Thursday's filing.