Sun International said its revenue is under severe pressure as a result of ongoing subdued economic conditions, increased personal income taxes and reduced disposable income.
Sun International company ended the year (June -December) with ZAR7.7 billion Revenue with operating profit of ZAR822 million.
Profit attributable to ordinary shareholders came in at ZAR105 million. In addition, headline earnings per share from continuing operations were 291cps.
The board has decided not to declare a dividend for the period under review, due to the difficult trading conditions and the need to complete strategic group initiatives, particularly Time Square, and the need to reduce debt levels.
Hotel occupancy is however anticipated to grow for the remainder of the year and will be boosted by the refurbished conference and entertainment centre at Sun City, where forward bookings for conferences are well up on last year. The opening of the casino at Time Square in April 2017 is expected to have a positive impact on the group’s performance going forward.
In Latin America, the Chilean economy, although still experiencing low GDP growth, is showing positive signs of an improvement with an increase in the copper price and low inflation and interest rates. Although trading in the early part of 2017 has remained subdued it is expected to pick up towards the end of the year.
Taking into account current trading conditions and the group’s levels of indebtedness, the primary focus for the foreseeable future will be to reduce debt and ensure the successful implementation and integration of recent acquisitions.
Sun International’s 33rd annual general meeting will be held at The Maslow Hotel, Corner of Grayston Drive and Rivonia Road, Sandton, Johannesburg on Wednesday, 14 June 2017 at 09h00. Further details regarding the company’s annual general meeting will be contained in Sun International’s 2016 annual statutory report to be posted to shareholders during or about the middle of April 2017. Given the short time period which has elapsed since posting the company’s previous integrated annual report (21 October 2016), no further integrated annual report will be delivered to shareholders in respect of the period under review.
