Operator News
South Africa – Online betting drives Sun International’s growth
By Phil - 18 March 2020
Sun International reported income growth of four per cent and an increase in EBITDAR of one per cent for its full year with the company’s online betting doing particularly well.
The company’s online betting arm SunBet saw an increase of 82 per cent increase with Sun Slots increasing by 13 per cent.
Sun International CE Anthony Leeming said: “We are pleased with the progress we have made against these goals that have assisted us in achieving extremely pleasing results against the backdrop of an increasingly challenging environment. We were particularly pleased with our Latam operations which showed resilience in the face of unexpected and widespread social unrest in Chile during the last quarter. Sun Dreams also demonstrated pleasing de-gearing and balance sheet strength.”
Domestically, total income in South Africa increased by two per cent to R11.5bn with EBITDAR increasing by five per cent to R3.3bn, with an improvement in EBITDAR of 29 per cent fuelled by improvements at the Time Square casino and better-than-market growth at Sibaya, SunSlots and SunBet. Performance was weaker at GrandWest and Sun City.
The company’s Latin American casinos saw their income grow by just one per cent with civil unrest in Chile and poor economic conditions in Argentina.
Mr. Leeming added: “We are particularly pleased with our Latam operations, which showed resilience in the face of unexpected and widespread social unrest in Chile during the last quarter. Chile and Peru are forecasting positive GDP growth, which augurs well for our operations. A number of countries in Latam are looking to regulate online gaming, and this too represents a good opportunity for us to grow.”
The group has been forced to shut down its operations in Peru, Argentina, Colombia and Panama to halt the spread of Covid-19 and will be closing in Chile on March 29, in response to instructions from the Chilean Superintendency of Gambling Casinos.
“The measures taken are in accordance with the instructions of the pertinent authorities, in order to ensure the containment of the spread of the virus. The authorities will continue to monitor the situation to determine when we will be permitted to reopen. Regarding the duration of the closures, it is not possible at this stage to determine their effect,” Mr. Leeming said. “While it is still too early to forecast what impact the Coronavirus might have, we are taking all necessary precautions to ensure a safe and healthy environment for our guests and staff and preparing operations for any possible disruption to trading.”
Caption: Sun’s Time Square venue
