Casinos are going through a poor run of luck
Gamblers have less cash; sports betting erodes market share
Not long after the first democratic elections, legalised gambling was unleashed on South Africans, who promptly flocked to the growing number of casinos, each more ostentatious than the next, that offered the chance to have a "flutter". But the depressed share prices of the country's two big casino and hotel operators - Tsogo is down over 20% and Sun International's share is nearly 40% lower in the year to date - raise the question of whether there is still scope for growth in this industry, especially as consumers are under pressure and there has been a proliferation of alternative gaming options. The recent poor results from Sun International underline this trend. It's not that the industry has shrunk. Casinos are still a multibillion-rand business. A survey by the Casino Association of South Africa says that for financial 2015-16, revenue was R18.2-billion, but the illegal gambling industry cost the fiscus R140-million in lost gambling tax revenue in the same financial year. And ...
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