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| Our economic contribution |
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Value of wealth created increases by 30%. |
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R13 billion capital investment, of which R11 billion was
committed to South Africa. |
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Significant new investments in Qatar and Nigeria. |
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New BEE deals concluded in South Africa. |
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Sasol is a significant oil, gas and chemical company with operations
on four continents. We are one of South Africa's largest and most
successful industrial companies, producing consistently attractive
returns for shareholders, as well as providing substantial tax and
other revenues to the governments of the countries in which we
operate. We contribute significantly to South Africa's energy supply,
make a valuable contribution to the Mozambican economy and
make smaller, positive contributions to the countries in which we
operate in Europe, North America, Asia and elsewhere in Africa.
During our 2006 financial year, we increased group wealth creation
by 30% from R24,7 billion to R32,2 billion. Of this amount, we
distributed R7,7 billion (24%) to employees and R6,6 billion (21%)
to governments in the form of taxes and related revenue. |
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| Contributing to economic development in
South Africa |
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In South Africa we have been producing fuels and chemicals using
Fischer-Tropsch technology since 1955 and have evolved into one
of the country's largest corporate contributors to economic
development. We contribute about R40 billion, or 4%, to South
Africa's national annual gross domestic product (GDP). We supply
about 25% of the country's liquid fuel needs through synfuels
derived from coal and natural gas at Secunda, and an additional
12% from conventional fuels derived from crude-oil refining through
our Natref oil refinery at Sasolburg. This saves the country more than R30 billion a year in foreign exchange as a result of not having to
import finished liquid petroleum product, chemical feedstock,
intermediates and final products.
On the basis of market capitalisation (R187 billion at year end), we
are a top six company on the JSE and South Africa's largest locally
domiciled company. We are the country's single largest industrial
investor, as well as the country's largest chemical feedstock
producer. During the 2006 financial year, our total capital
investment amounted to around R13 billion of which R11 billion
(84,6%) was invested in South Africa.
We are by far the largest direct taxpayer in South Africa. In the last
five years, the cumulative income tax paid to the South African
Treasury exceeded R20 billion. The chart below, which benchmarks
Sasol against other major JSE-listed companies (excluding financial
services), highlights the significance of the contribution Sasol makes
through tax payments. |
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| Supporting research and development |
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Since our inception, we have devoted significant resources to
research and development (R&D) to enhance our intellectual
property. Roughly R900 million was invested in R&D from July 2005
to June 2006, of which 66% was applied in South Africa, making us
by far the largest private research institution in South Africa. The
overseas expenditure will decline by about R200 million a year in
future, due to the divestiture of the Sasol Olefins & Surfactants
business. We have more than 125 doctorates at R&D in the science
and engineering disciplines at Sasolburg.
In addition to our R&D facilities in South Africa, we also have
researchers based at the universities of St Andrews in Scotland and
Twente in the Netherlands. Many of our people responsible for R&D are recognised as international authorities in their fields. Besides
focusing on opportunities to promote economic growth, a
significant percentage of our R&D programmes has a strong
environmental emphasis. |
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| Income tax cumulative 2001 to 2005 (R million) |
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| Total Sasol R&D expenditure (R million) |
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