SunBet is asserting itself as one of South Africa’s leading online bookmakers while in the early stages of new leadership, with its parent company, Sun International, now headed by former William HIll CEO Ulrik Bengtsson.

According to Sun International’s interim financial, SunBet Group revenue for the first six months of 2025 rose 70.7% year-over-year to R874m (€42.6m/£36.8m) from £512m the year prior, while adjusted EBITDA also climbed an impressive 71% to R301m (R77m).

This performance was largely driven by an increase in customer numbers. The group detailed that the total number of unique active players was up 70.6%, the number of first time depositors up 43.5%, while deposits in general rose 105.2%.

SunBet’s international vision on track

H1 2025 saw SunBet further establish itself as one of the dominant players in South Africa, which is in turn one of Africa’s largest gaming markets, widely regarded as having high growth potential and some of the more stable regulations on the continent under the National Gambling Board of South Africa (NGBSA).

It is also a highly competitive one, hosting international players like Betway alongside some of SunBet’s fellow local firms like HollywoodBets, Easybet, Sportingbet and 10bet. Given this high level of local competition, it is unsurprising then that Sun International is looking to take SunBet beyond South Africa’s borders.

Bengtsson remarked that while SunBet performed robustly in H1 there is still ‘more work to do with significant opportunities to scale and invest in the business’. The launch of SunBet Botswana in late 2024, with the platform going live in February 2025, was cited as indicative of its international ambitions.

“We actively leverage the Sun International brand, its broad market presence, and our MVG loyalty program both to attract new players and to retain our existing customer base. We launched Sunbet Botswana late last year, while still in its infancy, we look forward to gaining market share through our retail presence and marketing.”

SunBet was the first company to secure a licence from the Botswana Gambling Authority (BGA) last year as part of a new national market in the country.

Like South Africa, the new market is already courting international attention, however, with Betway launching there in May – SunBet will now have to apply its successful formula from South Africa to neighbouring Botswana.

“Over the coming months we will re-assess our approach to both driving improvements in growth and optimising returns,” said Bengtsson, who started his tenure as CEO on 1 July, having been hired for the role in March.

He continued: “My focus is on the long-term competitiveness of Sun International as a digitally-led, market-leading omnichannel gaming company of scale, enabled by competitive products, smart omnichannel solutions, engaged teams, and improved execution.”

Can the same be said of casino?

Sports betting is just one element of Sun International’s business, however, with the company’s group-wide H1 revenue rising 3% from R5.9bn to R6.2bn YoY – meaning SunBet Group revenue accounted for around 33% of this.

The group’s biggest source of revenue is its urban casinos division, which recorded revenue of R3.2bn, of which R2.9bn came from casino activity with the rest coming from rooms and food and beverage, and adjusted EBITDA of R1m.

Additionally, the group’s Resorts and Hotels segment recorded revenue of R1.3bn, of which R419m came from casino activity. Revenue for the Sun Slots division also came in at R701m, up 2% from R686m in 2024.

However, although casino revenue may dwarf betting revenue for the company, the urban casino and resorts and hotels segments actually recorded declines of 1% and 4% YoY respectively.

Bengtsson said: “While the business faces some structural headwinds from a changing gaming preference from our customers, we believe there is an opportunity to further optimise our land-based casino business, as we adopt a proactive customer-centric approach to continue to drive the business forward.”

While these revenue drops are only minor, it may suggest that the SunBet sportsbook brand is becoming more and more significant for the company as it presses ahead with its vision of becoming not only the leading gaming firm in South Africa but in the wider Southern Africa region.

Also, despite an overall increase in group-wide revenue, profitability remains a tricky task – EBITDA was down 4% from R1.63bn to R1.57bn and profit after tax was down 4% from R658m to R631m.

The group has a number of considerations in mind, however, as it looks to return to profitability and further scale its business. Leadership asserts that it is continuing to improve its infrastructure and casino product while eyeing up opportunities for SunBet in ‘selective regulated African markets’.

Bengtsson also stressed that the firm is keeping a close eye on regulatory developments and that Sun International will remain open to minority buyouts, further investment and ‘value accretive’ M&A, when opportunities arise.

“Sun International has delivered a solid set of first half results which is testament to the management team and my predecessor Anthony Leeming,” he summarised H1.

“I am delighted to have joined Sun International at such a pivotal time. Overall, the group has an excellent collection of assets, and all four business portfolios have their own set of clear opportunities.”

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