BROKERS’ NOTES: Buy Sun International, sell City Lodge

PRINT HEAD: Buy Sun International, sell City Lodge

Peter Armitage, CEO of Anchor Capital

BUY: Sun International

The company’s profits are back at pre-Covid levels, as evidenced in a recent market update. Back then it traded at about R40 a share and now you can buy it for about R28.  One factor benefiting Sun is its exposure to the consumer market, rather than just business travel. In addition, its main revenue driver is gaming. It seems as if the consumers are back and spending money again. Regarding the gaming division, Sun’s casino division has a decent competitive moat around it due to how these institutions are licensed in SA. We think the stock is worth at least R40 a share.

SELL: City Lodge Hotels

City Lodge Hotels are more exposed to business travel than is its listed peer, Sun International. A large part of business travel income is from government employees, and this is at risk of being curtailed as the fiscus continues to tighten spending.  In addition, we reckon business travel has undergone a structural change post-Covid: people opt for online meetings instead of travelling for face-to-face business. In general, City Lodge has less exposure to consumers than Sun, which is worrying. Add to that a large debt burden, and we believe Sun International is the buy and City Lodge a sell in this sector.