Sun International is considering acquisition and consolidation opportunities for SunBet in South Africa and overseas as the online business continues to outpace the domestic market.
SunBet revenue rose 35.5% year on year to R1.18 billion ($73.6 million) in the first half, compared with 19% growth across South Africa’s online market. The performance helped lift Sun International’s group income, excluding the Table Bay Hotel operated under an IHG management agreement, by 7.4% to R6.58 billion ($410 million).
CEO Ulrik Bengtsson said the company sees “plenty of inorganic opportunities” across the business, including the possibility of consolidating minority interests and pursuing opportunities linked to SunBet.
“In terms of the SunBet business, there might be opportunities to consolidate locally, but there might also be opportunities outside of South Africa,” Bengtsson said. “We are looking at all of it, but we have a very high bar for what we deem to be good investments.”
SunBet expanded into Botswana in 2024 and Namibia in May, with Bede Gaming powering its platform across those markets and South Africa. Sun International has also been assessing Zambia, Kenya and Ghana.
CEO Ulrik Bengtsson
At its Capital Markets Day in March, the company outlined plans to double SunBet’s 4.5% share of South Africa’s online market, although it has not provided an updated market-share figure.
Product development is also central to the next phase of growth. SunBet recently launched a new user interface in South Africa and Botswana, while further improvements are planned for the remainder of the year.
Bengtsson also said the sportsbook handled higher volumes during the World Cup, though the product is still not at the level the company wants.
SunBet’s revenue mix remains heavily weighted toward casino, at roughly 90%, with sports betting accounting for about 10%. Bengtsson said Sun International is “under-indexing on sportsbook,” while estimating that sports betting represents around 35% to 40% of the market.
He added that momentum from the World Cup continued into the second half despite a quieter sportsbook environment in July, when most football leagues were closed.
Sun International’s land-based casino business also returned to revenue growth for the first time in three years. Revenue increased 1.5% to R3.42 billion, while its South African market share rose 2.3% to 49%. Gross profit declined 0.7% to R2 billion as investment in the segment increased.
Bengtsson said the company now increasingly treats its land-based and online operations as a single customer ecosystem, with further potential to capture online spending from existing casino customers who are not yet using SunBet.