Sibanye-Stillwater’s adjusted EBITDA rose 9% year on year to R10.8 billion (US$662 million) in the September quarter, but the group has cut its 2026 production guidance for its US platinum group metals (PGM) operations after a strike of about five weeks. The figures come from the company’s operating update for the quarter ended 30 September 2026, issued on the JSE on 5 November, with the full booklet on the full SENS announcement. Group financial results are published only twice a year, so this update covers adjusted EBITDA, not profit.
Higher prices carried the quarter
Adjusted EBITDA was R10.8 billion, against R9.9 billion in the third quarter of 2025 and R12.5 billion in the second quarter of 2026. The company attributes the year-on-year gain to higher commodity prices. At the South African PGM operations, the average basket price rose 15% to R37,250 per 4E ounce (US$2,288), and adjusted EBITDA rose 16% to R5.8 billion (US$354 million).
Volumes were weaker. The company says South African PGM output, including purchased third-party concentrate, fell 10% year on year to 458,202 4E ounces, mainly because of lower surface production and lower expected output from Rustenburg, notably the Kroondal operations. It was still the operations’ best quarter of 2026 and the company says they are expected to meet full-year guidance of 1.65 to 1.75 million ounces. Costs rose: all-in sustaining cost for the managed operations increased 5%, which the company links to higher sustaining capital, input costs for fuel, lubricants and steel, and royalties tied to the stronger basket price. Total capital expenditure climbed 33% to R1.9 billion.
Gold: higher price, lower underground output
The South African gold operations received R2,208,545 per kilogram (US$4,219 per ounce), 14% more than a year earlier, but underground production fell 22%. Surface production rose 17% to 1,712kg. Adjusted EBITDA fell 8% to R3.4 billion (US$210 million). The company says flooding at Driefontein’s Khomanani 8 shaft in August caused a six-week suspension of mining there, and that Beatrix is mining at deeper levels with difficult ground conditions. Unit all-in sustaining cost excluding DRDGOLD rose 23% to R1,868,560 per kilogram; including DRDGOLD it was R1,668,973 per kilogram. Annual gold guidance is unchanged.
The US strike and the new guidance
The United Steelworkers strike at the Stillwater mine and metallurgical complex began on 3 September and ended with ratification of a new agreement and a return to work on 9 October. According to the company, the deal provides a 4.5% wage increase in year one, the greater of 3.5% or US inflation in year two and the greater of 3.0% or inflation in year three, plus team-based incentives tied to the move to fully mechanised mining.
US production fell 19% to 59,417 2E ounces and the company has revised 2026 guidance to 245,000 to 255,000 ounces, from 280,000 to 300,000 previously. Guided all-in sustaining cost is now US$1,700 to US$1,760 per ounce, up from US$1,520 to US$1,580. The company says staffing is roughly 25% below the planned 2027 mechanised workforce because attrition rose during the negotiations, and that the full effect on sales will show in the fourth quarter as concentrate stockpiles normalise. Its stated target is an all-in sustaining cost of about US$1,000 per ounce by the end of 2028; that is a company goal, not a forecast it has delivered.
Other operations and decisions
Recycling adjusted EBITDA rose 54% to US$40 million, and the Century zinc retreatment operation’s more than doubled to R925 million (US$57 million), helped by higher zinc sales and prices. The Keliber lithium project in Finland remains in hot commissioning. Cumulative construction spending is EUR726 million against an approved forecast of EUR783 million, and the company notes that lithium prices remain under pressure.
The Kwezi consultation at Rustenburg, which began on 8 September, is continuing; we reported earlier on the Kwezi shaft consultation and the 1,114 jobs at risk. The company says it is assessing options to mine the Kwezi Shallows project. A separate consultation on the Sandouville nickel refinery in France is also under way, with no final decisions taken.
The update also records leadership changes. Henk de Hoop became Global Head of Sales and Marketing on 1 November, succeeding Kleantha Pillay, who leaves on 31 January 2027. Emma Chapman declined the appointment as Head of Investor Relations and the search continues. Two employees died at Beatrix during the quarter.
What it means for business
For contractors, suppliers and lenders tied to platinum and gold, the quarter shows prices doing the work while South African volumes soften and unit costs climb. That pattern is also visible across the sector: see our coverage of Northam Platinum’s first binding pay vote and of the ISS flag on Impala Platinum bonuses after worker deaths.
What is not yet known
The booklet does not show how quickly the US operations will rebuild their workforce, so fourth-quarter output remains an open question. The outcomes of the Kwezi and Sandouville consultations are undecided, and the Keliber ramp-up has not yet reached design capacity.
