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09 March 2020
Hello Voornaam,

Sasol has been dealt a further blow with Moody's cutting its long-term credit rating to junk largely due to the problems it has encountered getting its US chemicals project off the ground. Although the oil and chemicals group said it didn't expect the downgrade to have a material impact on existing funding costs, its shares continued to weaken on Friday.

Ingham Analytics' latest note on Sasol - "What a gas" - has a cryptic message to it and is well timed given the steep decline in the Sasol share price. It also coincides with S&P and Moody's completing their periodic review of Sasol credit rating. Find out what Henry Hub gas prices have to do with the Lake Charles Chemicals Project and why there could be a sliver of a silver lining for Sasol by following this link.

Also in today's newsletter, Anglo American Platinum's shares also fell sharply after it declared force majeure due to an explosion that has taken one of its converter plants out of action until next year, with another also needing repairs. That will curtail processing of the metal, resulting in a downward revision to the group's production targets this year. While Amplats' shares declined on Friday, other producers rose due to the gap this will leave in the market.

Also today, a bullish trading statement from Capitec and a slightly less favourable one from Sanlam ahead of results later this week. And Pioneer Foods' takeover by PepsiCo has been approved by the Competition Tribunal, paving the way for its delisting from the JSE this month.

In The Week Ahead, Chris Gilmour looks at last week's rollercoaster ride for markets as the Federal Reserve cut interest rates in response to the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus, while at home the economy entered another recession. As well as Sanlam, results to watch out for this week include AVI, Merafe, FirstRand and Absa.

I hope you have a good week.

Stephen Gunnion

Managing Editor, InceConnect


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Todays Latest Headlines

Moody's cuts Sasol to junk on rising debt
The ratings agency says free cash flows will not materially reduce debt built up following delays and cost overruns at its US chemicals project.
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Amplats declares force majeure
The platinum producer has cut its product target and says it will take over a year to repair a converter that was damaged in an explosion...
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Capitec primes shareholders for higher earnings
The bank expects full-year earnings to be up to 21 percent higher than last year.
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Sanlam warns profit could fall by a quarter
The insurance group says stripping out one-off charges, results for 2019 reflect a sold operational performance.
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Pioneer on track for delisting
The approval of the Competition Tribunal means Pioneer will go ahead with its delisting in just over two weeks.
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The Week Ahead with Chris Gilmour 9 March 2020
Huge volatility on financial markets
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