Sunbet closed FY2025 with full-year income up 75.9% to ZAR 2.1 billion, as the online betting platform continued to pull clear of Sun International’s land-based divisions in both growth rate and strategic importance.
Full-Year Performance
The headline figure rounds to the 76% growth cited by parent company Sun International in its annual results, with the acceleration concentrating in the second half of the year. H2 income grew 79.8% compared to the same period in 2024, indicating momentum building rather than tapering as the year progressed.
Active player days rose more than 70% for the full year. Total iGaming deposits climbed 105% year-on-year in the first half alone, while unique active players were up 70.6% and first-time depositors grew 43.5% over the same period. Sun International attributed the growth to increased customer activity and deposits across all product verticals, with slots the sharpest contributor — slots income rose 128.7% in H1.
At the group level, Sun International reported full-year revenue of ZAR 12.9 billion, up 7% year-on-year, with adjusted headline earnings growing 6% to ZAR 1.4 billion and earnings per share reaching ZAR 5.65.
From Platform to Profit Centre
Sunbet’s rise in profitability has been as significant as its revenue growth. In H1 2025, the segment delivered adjusted EBITDA of ZAR 292 million on income of ZAR 874 million, an EBITDA margin of 33.4%. That placed it on par with GrandWest, the group’s longstanding Cape Town flagship, which posted adjusted EBITDA of ZAR 297 million over the same period — a casino that has operated with exclusivity in the Cape metropole for over two decades.
The comparison marks a structural shift. Sunbet is no longer a growth initiative alongside the core casino business; it is a material profit contributor competing with properties that took decades to reach comparable scale. The EBITDA margin trajectory suggests it may exceed land-based margins as operating leverage continues to build.
For context on Sunbet’s compounding growth: full-year revenue for 2024 stood at ZAR 1.2 billion, itself a 60.6% increase on the prior year. The 2025 result of ZAR 2.1 billion represents continued acceleration on an already high base. The trajectory is comparable in pace to regulated markets that matured rapidly once licensing frameworks stabilised — a pattern well documented in Europe’s GGR data, where digital growth has consistently outpaced land-based recovery across jurisdictions.
Land-Based Pressure and the Digital Shift
Sun International CEO Ulrik Bengtsson, who took the role in July 2025, has been direct about what online growth means for the casino estate. Urban casino income declined 1.4% in H1, with management acknowledging both structural and operational pressure on the segment.
“The market is down 3.75%… we do have some operational challenges in that business that we do have to address. In our gaming business, it’s about our mix of machines, and also the investment in machines. On the table business it’s pricing, in some of the operational procedures.” — Ulrik Bengtsson, CEO, Sun International
South Africa’s broader gambling landscape reflects this shift. The country’s online market has moved materially since 2010, when physical casinos accounted for over 73% of total gambling revenue. Sunbet’s scale — now comparable in profit terms to some of the country’s largest casino properties — illustrates how quickly that balance has changed.
The group’s omnichannel positioning, linking Sunbet’s digital product with the casino and hotel estate, has been central to Bengtsson’s stated strategy. Sun International has indicated it remains open to selective acquisitions in online gaming to accelerate scale and geographic reach. Sunbet Botswana, launched commercially in February 2025, is the first step in what the company describes as a southern African expansion. The model — a regulated online operation built on a strong domestic land-based brand — is one being watched across African markets as other jurisdictions consider formalising their digital gambling frameworks, a dynamic increasingly visible in regulatory activity globally.
Outlook
Sun International announced a regular dividend of ZAR 4.24 per share alongside a special dividend of ZAR 1.00 per share for FY2025, with total shareholder distributions of ZAR 1.356 billion. The group reduced net debt to ZAR 5.0 billion during the year.
Bengtsson has flagged continued investment in Sunbet’s product and technology, with the stated aim of establishing it as the leading online gaming operator in southern Africa. Whether that ambition extends further across the continent — and whether Sun International pursues inorganic growth to accelerate it — will be one of the more closely watched developments in African iGaming through 2026. Operators and investors tracking emerging market digital growth will note that Sunbet’s trajectory now ranks among the more striking in the industry: three consecutive years of 60%-plus income growth, with the rate still rising. For broader context on how tax and regulatory frameworks are shaping operator economics in high-growth markets, see our analysis of major gambling tax increases and their operator impact.
Source: Sun International
