Gambling & Resort Group Sun International Income Increases By 11.6% In H1

Sun International, the South African hospitality and gambling company group that owns iconic resorts such as Sun City and Table Bay Hotel, has reported a massive increase in their income. Shooting up by 11.6% in H1 which translates to a R5.8 billion increase when compared to the same period in 2022. These are its interim financial results for a six-month period which ended on the 30th of June 2023.

This is quite the achievement considering that 2023 has seen some of the worst Loadshedding to date. With the price of diesel and generation solutions taken into account, this result is one to take note of.

Casino Craze

SunBet, the group’s sportsbook wing, recorded an astronomical increase of 138.4% during the period which tallies up to R298 million. This growth could potentially be attributed to the stats surrounding SunBets’ player base. Unique active players rose by 702.8%, first-time depositors grew by 469.2%, and deposits increased by 216.2%.

It wasn’t all rise, however, as Sun Slots income dropped from R730 million to R717 million.

Despite this massive success, it was actually the group’s urban casinos that saw the most growth. The nine urban casinos increased the group’s income by 4.2%, totalling an inconceivable R3.27 billion.

GrandWest was the biggest contributor to the group’s overall income, generating R891 million. Following GrandWest, Time Square generated R724 million. Finally, Sibaya brought in R634 million.

It looks as though gambling within South Africa is increasing both physically and via online casinos.

Resort Results

On the other side of the group’s business, we have their resorts and hotels. This area saw an increase of 26.9% which resulted in a rise to R1.42 billion.

The group stated “We continue to experience a strong recovery in both international and local business in the resorts and hotels segment of the group. Domestic leisure, conferencing and sports and events revenues continue to grow while international leisure business recovered strongly in the review period,”

They continued: “Sun City continues to achieve exceptional performance following the restructure and streamlining of its operations, along with the resort’s strong appeal to the South African market.”

Looking Ahead

As the group peers ahead into the second half of the year, they said that they anticipate continued improvement in its operations despite “economic conditions in South Africa and the environment in which we operate” being challenging.

“With the strong momentum that we have achieved and having the right leadership in place, we will ensure that our strategy continues to deliver the required results.”

Sun International is also looking at alternative energy solutions to try and combat the adverse effects of loadshedding.