SSLSasol Limited
Is the business good?
The checks split: nothing decisive, though earnings fully cash-backed (1.6×).
Operating profit is fully backed by cash. Conversion is worsening vs a year ago.
Margins have held roughly steady, a stable cost structure.
A balanced mix of margins, efficiency, and leverage. ROE 7% = 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 8.4% 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% · 0.62 points below what the capital costs: growth destroys value
- Operating margin
- 9.4%
Operating margin · Specialty Chemicals median 7.4% · fiscal year to FY2026
- Cash conversion
- 1.63×
Cash conversion · 3.24× a year ago · operating cash flow covers the operating profit after tax
- Share count, year on year
- +1.0%
Share count, year on year · shareholders own a smaller slice than a year ago
| Year | Operating margin |
|---|---|
| FY2021 | 8.2% |
| FY2022 | 23% |
| FY2023 | 7.4% |
| FY2024 | −9.9% |
| FY2025 | 7.5% |
| FY2026 | 9.4% |
Details›
- Gross marginfiscal year to FY2026
- 49%
- Operating marginfiscal year to FY2026
- 9.4%
- Net marginfiscal year to FY2026
- 4.5%
- Free cash flow margin
- 4.3%
- R&D as % of revenue
- 0.55%
- Revenue, trailing twelve months
- $272.1B
- Free cash flow, trailing twelve months
- $11.7B
- Net income, trailing twelve months
- $12.1B
- Return on invested capitaloperating profit after tax ÷ debt + equity − cash
- 8.4%
Margins, capital and share counts from the statements as filed with the SEC; cash conversion is operating cash flow over operating profit after tax.