Sibanye delays results release as it recovers from cyberattack

Sibanye-Stillwater (JSE: SSW, NYSE: SBSW) will delay the release of its operating and financial results for the period ended June 30 after recent disruptions to its IT systems.

On July 11, the South African miner announced there had been a cyberattack that brought down the company’s servers, causing disruptions to certain areas of its global operations. An investigation was launched and remains ongoing.

In a statement Thursday, Sibanye said it has taken measures to enhance IT security and implemented a phased system start-up approach to ensure that its mining operations can continue globally with minimal disruption.

“We have prioritized the health and safety of our employees as we have worked diligently to remediate the effects of the attack and normalize our operations,” Neal Froneman, CEO of Sibanye-Stillwater stated.

“We are pleased to have largely secured the sustainability and integrity of our systems and continue to work closely with our customers and suppliers to mitigate any potential business interruptions that may occur in the short term.”

So far, only the U.S.-based platinum group metals operation experienced some short-term operational delays, due to IT outages affecting the smelting of underground concentrate and the recycling of spent autocatalysts. However, it is expected to quickly resume full operations, with accumulated stockpiles expected to be processed in due course, Sibanye said.

Although the cyberattack has had limited impact on the group’s core operations, it still caused temporary system outages that resulted in the implementation of back-up manual processes on certain systems. While the systems are now largely restored, Sibanye has chosen to reschedule the publication of its second quarter and first half results to Sept. 12.