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Johannesburg - South African hotels and casino operator Tsogo Sun [JSE:TSH] reported a 20% rise in first-half profit on Thursday, helped by an acquisition that offset the slow revenue from gambling and leisure travel.
Tsogo Sun, in which SABMiller and Hosken Consolidated Investments each have a nearly 40% stake, said headline EPS totalled 81.3 cents in the six months to end-September compared with 68 cents a year earlier.
Tsogo Sun and smaller rival Sun International, hotels are struggling to fill up rooms as the government and corporates spend guardedly due to weak economic growth prospects while high household debt levels have made consumers wary of gambling and leisure travel.
In a bid to offset slowing growth at home, Tsogo Sun paid R700m earlier this year to buy a hotel in Nigeria and a further R300m to expand its Mozambican hotel.
Growth expectations for the local economy was cut this year to 2.1% from 2.7% as labour strikes, slower consumer spending and power constraints weigh on the continent's biggest economy.
