Gold Strike

How to play Gold Strike

Group income reached R6.58 billion ($411.9 million) across the first half of the year when excluding the Table Bay Hotel (TBH), which the company is running under a management agreement with IHG.

Sun International’s adjusted EBITDA (excluding TBH) edged up 2% to R1.59 billion in H1. Revenue growth was at the “upper end of expectations”.

H1 growth was driven by Sun International’s online division, with revenue from SunBet surging 35.5% year-on-year to R1.18 billion.

About Gold Strike

The CEO highlighted the synergies between Sun International’s land-based and online operations, with the potential of capturing more of its existing customers’ online activity.

“We look increasingly at our business as one customer ecosystem or one customer platform, if you will,” he added. “I keep saying that SunBet probably wouldn’t be where it is today without a land-based business, and a land-based business probably wouldn’t be where it is today without SunBet.

“We continuously leverage off one another. Now, having said that, we know that almost all of us, or at least the vast majority of our land-based customers are playing online, but not all of them are playing with SunBet, so we see that bit as the opportunity.”

About Gold Strike

The committee identified the Gambling Act 2005 as the moment when licensed operators gained broad advertising freedoms across media. Prior to 2005, television and radio gambling advertising was limited to products like bingo, football pools and the National Lottery.

Since then, annual advertising expenditure by licensed operators has grown substantially and is now estimated to be between £1 billion and £2 billion, accoridng to , the report said.

According to the committee, robust evidence now links gambling advertising to increased participation and associated harms.