Moody’s hails end of Sibanye gold strike
Ratings agency puts the cost of the five-month strike at R2.2bn, but says its end and the raising of $245m is credit positive
The end of Sibanye-Stillwater’s five-month gold strike and its raising of $245m (about R3.5bn) earlier in April was “credit positive” for the miner and meant it would now be able to improve its ability meet its short-term debt obligations, says ratings agency Moody's Investors Service. In what was quite a departure from the ominous tone of the ratings agency’s February downgrade of Sibanye, Moody’s latest note dated April 19, two days after the end of the strike, says it is likely the company will look to refinance its credit facilities and thereby improve its liquidity position. Moody’s also noted that Sibanye had lost R2.2bn to the industrial action.
Sibanye CEO Neal Froneman said on April 17 at the signing of a wage accord with the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu) that the company had lost R1.6bn to the strike, but company spokesperson James Wellsted said this figure was only up to the end of the March quarter and that a more accurate figure was c...
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