Sun International, owner of Sun City, Grandwest and the Table Bay hotel, expects headline earnings to end-December to soar by as much as 92%.
The company said its online and sports betting platform SunBet had “achieved record income and is exceeding the ambitious growth targets set for this business”.
Its hotels, which include the Maslow in Johannesburg, had an exceptional year which has continued into 2024.
Its casinos in urban areas and Sun Slots division, which runs limited payout machines in 700 venues including clubs and bookmaker outlets, however, faced a challenging trading environment, the company said.
It expects to release results on March 18.
Headline earnings per share are expected to be R4.12-R4.34, representing an increase of 82%-92% compared with 2022.
It said it was in a strong financial position with SA debt at R5.7bn, down from R5.9bn at year-end, even as interest rates were much higher and it paid almost R1bn in dividends.
“Our SA debt to adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation and interest cover of 1.7x and 5.7x respectively, are well within our lenders’ covenants of 3.25x and 3.0x times respectively. This is evidence of the strong cash generation by Sun International as well as its prudent allocation of capital.”
Debt covenants are ratios that banks use to see if the company earns enough to cover borrowings and finance costs.
The group’s share price rose 0.95% to close at R39.30.
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