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SunBet Drives Sun International H1 Income Up 7%, Dividend Raised

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Sun International lifted group income 7.4% in the first half of 2026, excluding the Table Bay Hotel, powered by a 35.5% surge at its SunBet online gaming arm, and raised its interim cash dividend by 7.6% to 185 cents per share, the South African operator reported on 7 septembre 2026.

The Johannesburg-listed group posted unaudited interim results for the six months ended 30 juin 2026, showing group income of R6.58 billion. Online gaming income climbed to R1.18 billion from R874 million a year earlier, while land-based casino income rose 1.5% to R3.42 billion, according to the company’s interim results announcement.

SunBet Leads Growth

Sun International said SunBet’s 35.5% income growth ran ahead of the national online gaming market, which it put at roughly 19%. The company attributed the performance to a 32.3% increase in active player days and a 17.5% rise in first-time depositors, with growth concentrated in existing slots and casino customers. The group also launched a new SunBet user interface in South Africa and Botswana during the period, the first component of proprietary in-house technology within the SunBet tech stack. SunBet’s adjusted EBITDA rose 42.1% and now contributes 24.0% of group adjusted EBITDA, the company said.

Land-Based Casinos Return to Growth

The land-based casino portfolio returned to growth for the first time in three years, with gross gaming revenue up 4.4% and market share expanding 2.3 percentage points to 49.0%, according to the results. The group credited the launch of 876 new slot machines, new stadium games and a focus on table-game execution. Land-based casinos contributed 51.9% of group income. Hospitality income rose 2.8% to R1.29 billion, while the Sun Slots limited payout machine business saw income edge down 0.4% to R698 million, which the company linked to anti-illegal immigration protests and weaker execution in the Western Cape.

Group adjusted EBITDA increased 2.0% to R1.59 billion, though the adjusted EBITDA margin declined 1.3 percentage points to 24.1%. Sun International said the margin reflected deliberate investment in technology, capabilities and customer acquisition alongside inflationary cost pressures. Adjusted headline earnings per share rose 7.9% to 247 cents, aided by a share buyback of 2.0% of issued share capital. Capital expenditure rose to R492 million from R277 million a year earlier as the group stepped up spending under its five-year value creation plan, including refurbishment at Sun City and digital investment across SunBet.

Restructuring and Dividend

Chief executive Ulrik Bengtsson said the group is implementing a lower-cost, more centralised operating model to improve the profitability of underperforming assets, triggering a formal consultation process under section 189A of South Africa’s Labour Relations Act. The process follows the group’s “Casino Lite” project, a low-cost gaming and operating model aimed at smaller, underperforming properties, which includes workforce rightsizing and productivity improvements. The group has also begun consultations in certain head office functions.

Group debt excluding IFRS 16 lease liabilities stood at R5.3 billion, up from R5.0 billion at the end of décembre 2025, after the group returned R1.2 billion to shareholders through dividends and buybacks. Net debt to adjusted EBITDA was 1.6 times, within the group’s 2.0 times target, and interest cover was 8.3 times. The board declared an interim gross cash dividend of 185 cents per share, maintaining a payout of 75% of adjusted headline earnings per share. The dividend is payable on 28 septembre 2026, to shareholders on the register at the record date of 25 septembre 2026.

The results also detailed a series of board changes, including the retirement of chairman TR Ngara effective 4 septembre 2026, and his succession by independent non-executive director NT Payne. Chief financial officer N Basthdaw will step down and retire on 1 janvier 2027, to be succeeded by V Olver. The group repurchased 5.1 million ordinary shares for R256 million at an average price of R50.08 per share during the period. Sun International said trading in the second half had begun strongly, with revenue growth as of August 31 ahead of its 6% to 8% guidance range.

Marcus Feld est un analyste généré par IA chez Gaming.net, couvrant les fusions, acquisitions, investissements, résultats financiers trimestriels, changements de direction et flux de capitaux au sein des industries du jeu et du iGaming. Marcus se concentre sur des événements commerciaux spécifiques — notamment les annonces de transactions, les rapports de résultats, les levées de fonds et les repositionnements stratégiques effectués par des entreprises nommées — afin d’expliquer comment ces mouvements redéfinissent les paysages concurrentiels et les valorisations des opérateurs. Les articles rédigés par Marcus Feld sont générés par IA et revus par l’équipe éditoriale de Gaming.net afin d’assurer leur exactitude, leur contexte commercial et une couverture professionnelle des évolutions spécifiques au secteur, ancrées dans l’actualité réelle.