Johannesburg - Africa's biggest hotels and casino operator, Tsogo Sun Holdings Ltd [JSE:TSH], reported a 36% rise in first-half profit, as consumers in its mainstay South African market spent more on leisure.
Tsogo Sun, 40% owned by brewer SABMiller
[JSE:SAB], said diluted headline EPS totalled 68 cents in the six months to end-September compared with 50.1c a year earlier.
Headline EPS, the main measure of profit in South Africa, strips out certain one-time items.
Shares in the R28bn company jumped 5.39% to R25.24 by 09:17, outpacing its closest rival Sun International
[JSE:SUI], up 0.6%.
Consumer spending in South Africa has been on the mend, although some analysts have warned that spending is partly fuelled by a surge in unsecured loans such as credit cards.
South African hotels are also struggling with low occupancy rates due to oversupply after a building boom in the run-up to the 2010 Soccer World Cup.
Tsogo Sun said its occupancy rates improved slightly in the period.
The company, which is also owned by investment holding firm Hosken Consolidated Investments
[JSE:HCI], raised its interim dividend by 20% to 24c.
Its shares are up more than 50% so far this year, outperforming a 15% gain the JSE All-share index.