Here’s our Pick of the Month – May 2011

Article Excerpt

SASOL LTD. (ADR) $53.91 (New York symbol SSL; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk) (082-883-9697; www.sasol.com; ADRs outstanding: 641.4 million; Market cap: $34.6 billion; Dividend yield: 1.7%) has developed a technology to convert coal and natural gas into motor fuels. The company is now the world’s largest producer of fuel from coal at its facility at Secunda, South Africa. Sasol also produces synthetic fuels from natural gas at plants in Qatar and Nigeria. In addition, the company has substantial chemical-production interests, and produces oil and gas in Africa. Sasol is also South Africa’s third-largest coal producer. In the six months ended December 31, 2010, Sasol’s revenue rose 15.8%, to $9.9 billion from $8.6 billion a year earlier (all figures in U.S. dollars). Earnings per ADR rose 19.9%, to $1.87 from $1.56. In the last three months, Sasol has made two major shale-gas acquisitions in the Montney Basin region of western Alberta and northeastern B.C. The company paid $2.2 billion for a 50%…