Sun International outperforms the overall South African market decline with 3.2 per cent gain
Sun increases land-based casino market share by 0.6 per cent to 46 per cent
South African operator Sun International bucked the market trend by increasing its income in 2025 by 3.2 per cent to R13bn with its land-based casino market share increasing by 0.6 per cent to 46 per cent.
The operator’s land-based casinos outperformed the broader market decline following the launch of product, people and operational execution initiatives. Resorts and hotels improvement, excluding TBH: food & beverage and rooms revenues grew by 6.9 per cent for FY2025. Sun Slots saw the successful rollout of Type B licence sites in the Western Cape, as business continued to grow, with income up 1.8 per cent in H2.
Chief Executive, Ulrik Bengtsson said: “2025 was a transition year during which we made progress towards realising our ambition to become a digitally-led, market-leading, omnichannel gaming company of scale. During H2, we assessed the company’s potential and operational capabilities and agreed a five-year value creation plan with the board. This plan will be outlined at our Capital Markets Day event later today.
In H2, Sun International delivered a solid performance broadly in line with growth achieved in the first half of 2025. Sunbet saw robust growth, with an increase in H2 income of 79.8 per cent compared to 2024. Active player days increased by more than 70 per cent, demonstrating that underlying customer activity is supporting this growth momentum. Our 2025 land-based casino performance was significantly ahead of the market as a result of optimisation initiatives implemented on Tables and Slots.
“Our gross gaming revenue (GGR) on a comparable basis declined by 2.6 per cent, but outperformed the rest of the market (which fell by 6.3 per cent), resulting in a 0.6 per cent increase in market share to 46 per cent. In particular, we saw a positive performance in the last quarter of the year, where we grew GGR by four per cent, our highest growth rate since Q2 2023, against a continued market decline. Sun Slots delivered another strong half, with income growth of 1.8 per cent, again underscoring the long-term resilience of this business and product. We are also starting to see a return on our investment at Sun City, and the resort had a good H2, benefiting from a material uplift in gaming and hospitality revenues compared to H1.”
