Sun International expects headline earnings per share (Heps) for 2023 to lift up by between 82% and 92%, boosted by record income growth from resorts and hotels, which beat expectations, although its urban casinos, despite being affected by difficult economic conditions, had boosted resilience.
The hotelier and casino operator said yesterday that full-year Heps for the period to end December 2023 were likely to grow to between R4.12 and R4.34. This compares to Heps profitability of R2.26 per share recorded for 2022.
“Sun International delivered another strong set of results for 2023. Throughout the year, SunBet consistently achieved record income and is exceeding the ambitious growth targets set for this business,” the company said in a trading update released yesterday.
It said its resorts and hotels such as Sun City Resort had recorded “an exceptional year” in 2023, with the growth trends continuing into the first weeks of the current year.
“Our urban casinos and Sun Slots operations have demonstrated resilience despite a challenging trading environment.”
Sun International provisioned for an increase in the estimated redemption value of the SunWest put option liability of R13 million as well as transaction costs of R37m relating to the proposed Peermont acquisition and the impact of the devaluation of the naira which resulted in a non-cash net accounting adjustment of R35m.
This was in relation to the consolidation of the external shareholder loans of the Tourist Company of Nigeria, which are US dollar denominated.
These factors had resulted in a difference between the company’s Heps performance and its adjusted Heps which are expected to amount to between R4.56 and R4.78 per share, representing an increase of between 4% and 9% when compared to the prior year’s adjusted Heps profit of R4.39 per share.
The company closed the period under review with reduced South African debt of R5.7 billion, down from R5.9bn as at December 31, 2022, after paying total dividends during the year of R98m.
BUSINESS REPORT