SSLSasol Limited
Is the business good?
The checks split: nothing decisive, though earnings fully cash-backed (3.2×).
Operating profit is fully backed by cash.
Negative operating leverage, costs are rising faster than sales, squeezing margins as it grows.
A balanced mix of margins, efficiency, and leverage. ROE 4% = margin × turnover × leverage.
Unless marked, from derived.
Where this answer is blind. The F-score rewards improvement, so an already-elite company can score mid-pack.
How good a business is SSL?
Sasol Limited earns 6.4% on the capital it employs against a 9.0% cost of capital, so growth costs more than it returns.
Return on invested capital · cost of capital 9.0% · 2.6 points below what the capital costs: growth destroys value
- Operating margin
- 7.5%
Operating margin · Specialty Chemicals median 7.4% · fiscal year to FY2025
- Cash conversion
- 3.24×
Cash conversion · operating cash flow covers the operating profit after tax
- Share count, year on year
- +1.4%
Share count, year on year · shareholders own a smaller slice than a year ago
| Year | Operating margin |
|---|---|
| FY2020 | −59% |
| FY2021 | 8.2% |
| FY2022 | 23% |
| FY2023 | 7.4% |
| FY2024 | −9.9% |
| FY2025 | 7.5% |
Details›
- Gross marginfiscal year to FY2025
- 48%
- Operating marginfiscal year to FY2025
- 7.5%
- Net marginfiscal year to FY2025
- 2.7%
- Free cash flow margin
- 5.2%
- R&D as % of revenue
- 0.62%
- Revenue, trailing twelve months
- $249.1B
- Free cash flow, trailing twelve months
- $13.0B
- Net income, trailing twelve months
- $6.77B
- Return on invested capitaloperating profit after tax ÷ debt + equity − cash
- 6.4%
Margins, capital and share counts from the statements as filed with the SEC; cash conversion is operating cash flow over operating profit after tax.