computer cables Light trails from network switches illuminate fiber optic cables, center, and copper Ethernet cables inside a communications room at an office in London, U.K., on Monday, May 21, 2018. (Photo: Jason Alden/Bloomberg)

(Bloomberg) – Liberty Holdings Ltd., the South African insurer midway through an overhaul to improve profit, said it refused a ransom demand after hackers breached its information-technology infrastructure and accessed some emails. The stock fell the most since April 4.

No concessions

"We did engage with the external parties involved to determine their intentions, but we made no concession in the face of this attempted extortion," Liberty Chief Executive Officer David Munro said Sunday in Johannesburg. "Liberty is at an advanced stage of investigating the extent of the data breach, which at this stage, seems to be largely emails and possibly attachments."

The threatened data leak comes as Munro pushes ahead with a turnaround of the largest provider of long-term insurance products to affluent South Africans, which has struggled to grow sales into a weak local economy. Since being appointed to the post in May last year, Munro has sought to improve customer service by revamping its call center, while simplifying its offerings that had become too complex for its 3,000 agents to market and finding ways of improving returns at its asset-management unit.

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