'Sasol Nitro should open its books to farmers, not only the tribunal'
October 19, 2009
By Mzwandile Jacks
Theo Botha, the shareholder activist, has lashed out at "serial offender" Sasol, urging the petrochemicals giant to reveal the profits made by its fertiliser division, Sasol Nitro, during the nine years of collusive behaviour in the industry.
In an interview on Friday, he said justice had been denied when the Competition Tribunal confirmed that Sasol had agreed to a R251 million settlement, because the tribunal did not ask Sasol to reveal how much extra profit it made as part of the fertiliser cartel.
In May this year, the Competition Tribunal confirmed a R251m settlement agreement between Sasol Nitro and the Competition Commission relating to transgressions of competition law in the fertiliser and phosphoric acid businesses.
Sasol Nitro was at the centre of an investigation by the commission into collusive conduct referred by Nutri-Flo, involving Omnia and Kynoch (now Yara), which allegedly agreed to fix prices and grant selective discounts for nitrogenous fertiliser.
Botha said: "How can the tribunal accept the guilty plea without obtaining the quantum of the damage done by Sasol, a serial offender, to the aggrieved stakeholders?
"This is a serious flaw and needs to be addressed. This schedule must be made public so that aggrieved stakeholders can exercise a claim against the offenders."
But Jacqui O'Sullivan, Sasol's group communications officer, said detailed assessments relating to any possible impact and the quantification thereof were the subject of ongoing studies in a variety of areas.
Soon after Sasol agreed to the R251m settlement, farmers' organisations Grain SA and the Transvaal Agricultural Union (TAU) said they might launch a class action against Sasol.
They said they could demand compensation for Sasol's price-fixing activities because their members had suffered the most during the time the cartel operated in the industry.
About two weeks ago, the two organisations said they would know soon whether their lawyers would give them a go-ahead on the class action, which would be the country's first such suit.
Lawyers were studying an independent forensic report which looked at the causes of last year's sharp increases in fertiliser prices. "As was noted by the Sasol chief executive Pat Davies at the Competition Tribunal, Sasol will respond appropriately to any quantified claims relating to the Nitro matter," O'Sullivan said.
But Botha said: "Surely if Mr Davies is an honourable man and wants to do the right thing, then he must instruct his financial director to release all financial information to the aggrieved stakeholders so that they can see for themselves how much profit Sasol Nitro made in the nine years.
"What society requires is for Mr Davies to do the right thing true leaders do: open up your books, enter into negotiations with all the aggrieved parties (farmers), settle all pending court cases and arrive at a settlement so that you can get back to what you do best.
"After all, Sasol is a world leader in its field."
On Friday, Sasol's share price on the JSE gained 1.7 percent to R304.99, giving it a market capitalisation of R194.5bn.
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