Hotels and casino group Sun International today reported a modest 3% rise to R861 million in revenue for the three months to September, reflecting tough economic conditions.

Casino revenue rose 1% to R445 million, rooms revenue was up 13% to R210 million and food, beverage and other revenues grew 8% to R206 million.

At the casino operations, Carnival City, Meropa and Morula performed well, achieving revenue growth of 7%, 10% and 11% respectively.

"Following the opening of the lodge at Golden Valley, the unit had an excellent quarter with revenue up 42% on last year," the group said.

GrandWest and Boardwalk experienced negative growth of 6% and 4% respectively, while Sibaya's revenue was in line with the prior period.

Amongst the hotels and resorts, the Table Bay and Zambian properties achieved excellent results, with revenue growth of 25% and 23% respectively.

Sun City achieved a modest revenue growth of 2% due to the high base in the prior year, resulting from higher group convention bookings. The average room occupancy for the quarter at 76% was 2 percentage points down on the previous year.

The overall Ebitda margin of 33.5% is 1.5% lower than the comparative quarter last year, mainly due to the lower revenue performances from the major casino properties, the group said.

However, given the pressures on costs due to the current inflationary environment, this is a satisfactory achievement, the company said.

Looking ahead, the group said trading in the group's casinos in South Africa for the remainder of the first half was expected to remain challenging as a result of the difficult economic climate.

However this will be offset to some extent by the stronger growth in hospitality revenues, it said.

Source: I-Net Bridge