REPORT OF THE MONTH

Report of the month

March 2007

Download as PDF

Sasol

Johannesburg, South Africa



Report Facts

Company name: Sasol Limited Group
Fiscal year end: June 30, 2006
Report title: technology for sustainable energy
Chairman: Pieter Cox
Chief executive: Pat Davies
Number of books (Received): 3
Volume: 80 + 152 + 92
Auditors: KPMG
Designers: Sasol Corporate Affairs, Studio Five
E-mail: investor.relations@sasol.com

Report Rating

4.5/5

(Rating scale below)

Profile-Mission (Excerpts, as from the report)

Sasol is an integrated oil and gas company with substantial chemical interests. In South Africa, we support these operations by mining coal and converting it into synthetic fuels and chemicals through our world-renowned, proprietary Fischer-Tropsch (FT) technology. We have chemical manufacturing and marketing operations in South Africa, Europe, Asia and the Americas. Our larger chemical portfolio includes monomers, polymers, solvents, olefins… Formed in 1950, we commenced FT-based production in 1955. We employ more than 30 000 people… Sasol is listed in South Africa and the New York Stock Exchange.

Revenues: $ 9.961 million
Attributable earnings: $ 1.618 million
Earnings per share: $ 3.58
Return on equity: 21.6%
Market value: $ 26.391 million

(Source: annual report 2006 only – figures not found through a report scan are considered NA. All figures for fiscal year 2006)
 

Strongest

  • This is a complex company with no less than 8 operating segments. Still, the way to deal with it -to report, that is- remarkably consistent, comprehensive, comprehensible and communicative. Strong chart backing, too.
  • The layout for notes to statements probably stands as clearest across the board and many seas.
  • Ten year financial performance shows measures over 8 pages, of which three dozens of key performance indicators all set in fractions; from liquidity measures to margins to efficiency ratios and shareholder returns.
  • The Selected Page (see below) provides a good example of the thoroughness and clearness of segment contribution analysis, throughout the whole document, including the notes to statements, which is rare among today’s usually annuals, often convoluted.
 

Good Too

  • Diagram used to display the integrated business model.
  • Financial strategies and targets.
  • Geographical analysis.
  • Committees’ work.
 

Buts

  • Is a “summary” still a summary when it weighs half of a “core” report and contains so many crammed pages? “annual financial statements” may not be the most suitable title for that “core” book. And more than 300 pages means a lot of paper and some duplication.
  • The financial review -endorsed by two CFOs- could be better sequenced and more effectively laid out.
  • Etc.
 

Green?

  • A separate 92-page sustainable development report is available. It includes tools such as a GRI index with a column showing (un)achieved reporting status, a full list of acronyms, a feedback form, and 14 key contacts. Substantiated on some of the burning issues yet not always clearest and up to best in class.
 

How does the company report in key areas? What are the main report pluses and minuses? The Report Scan gives an overview of strengths and weaknesses, and scores each item.
Contact e.com@reportwatch.net

 

Selected Page

(p 49 of SASOL Annual financial statements 2006)
p 49 of SASOL Annual financial statements 2006
Rating Scale
5
World-Class
4.5
First-Rate
4
Excellent
3.5
Fine
3
Average
2.5
Uneven
2
Ordinary
1.5
Deficient
1
Unsatisfactory
0.5
Uncompetitive

The rating is based on ReportWatch internal desk research and does not take into account the independent Rating Panel’s judgment.

REPORT OF THE MONTH

DIMO (August 2010)

DIMO

DIMO

Colombo, Sri Lanka

Read more
Download as PDF

BEST ANNUAL REPORTS

Annual Report on Annual Reports 2010

Best Annual Reports 2010!

Ratings and ranking end-August!

Financial sector annual reports

Annual Report on Annual Reports

Financial sector annual reports For the second consecutive year annual reports from the financial sector have not been selected for our competition. This does not imply that there are not good and better reports in the sector. However, for consistency, comparability and credibility reasons it has been decided not to include any.

How is your report doing?

How is your report doing?
How does your annual report score on all evaluation criteria used for the Annual Report on Annual Reports?
Order a REPORT SCAN. An edited output of desk research done by e.com report analysts, it provides your company (or advisers) with the complete score breakdown for 50 report items plus a summary of pluses and minuses for each of them.
For more information, click here.
E-mail your order to: e.com@reportwatch.net

Report, google and watch

Has a/your report appeared on ReportWatch?

Report, google and watch
Has a/your (company) report/name been mentioned, watched, rated, ranked, benchmarked, cited on ReportWatch?
Or has ReportWatch been cited with reference to a/your company/report/name?
Type the (company) name followed by ReportWatch (in one word) and see if you get results.

Not just another report on capitalism

The seven deadly sins of capitalism,
by e.com founder Mike Guillaume

The seven deadly sins of capitalism
One thing is certain: for all its virtues, and there are still some, the market no longer has all the answers to all the problems.
Read chapters and much more about the economics, capitalism, alternatives on http://www.mikeconomics.net