Welcome to Sun International's annual results for the year ended 31 December 2025. Today, you'll be hearing from our CEO, Ulrik Bengtsson, followed by our CFO, Norman Basthdaw. Over to Ulrik Bengtsson, our CEO.
Welcome, everyone. 2025 was a transition year during which we made good progress towards realizing our ambition to become a digitally led, market-leading, omni-channel gaming company of scale. During the second half of the year, we assessed the company's potential, the operational capabilities, and agreed timings and funding of a value creation plan with the board. This plan will be outlined at our capital markets event later today. As for our full year performance, we had a solid performance across the portfolio with income growth of 7% to ZAR 12.9 billion. Adjusted headline earnings grew 6% to about ZAR 1.4 billion, giving us plenty of ammunition to invest in growing our business organically. Adjusted earnings per share was up 6% to ZAR 5.65 per share.
As a consequence, we are increasing the dividend to ZAR 4.24 per share. We continue to balance investing to grow organically with returning capital to shareholders and maintaining a strong balance sheet. During the year, we have had non-recurring cash inflows, and with that in mind, we are also announcing a special dividend of ZAR 1.00 per share. Now, let me talk you through some of the operational highlights for the year and the period. SunBet had another robust period of growth with the second half income increasing by 80% compared to 2024. Active play days increased by 70%, demonstrating that underlying customer activity is supporting this growth momentum.
Our 2025 land-based casino performance was significantly ahead of the market, taking an additional full percentage point market share in the year as a result of increased operational intensity, product investment, and optimization initiatives. In particular, we saw a positive performance in the last quarter of the year where we grew GGR by 4%. Sun Slots delivered another strong period with revenue growth of 1.8% for the second half, 2% for the full year, underscoring the long-term resilience of this product and business. Sun City Resort had a good performance in H2, benefiting from material uplift in gaming and hospitality revenues compared to H1, and we are really pleased to see that our investments in the resort is gaining traction. Now I wanted to talk a bit about capabilities and our team.
We have made several key appointments during the second half of the year to significantly strengthen our capabilities. Leslie Peters joined us as Chief Technology and Product Officer from Games Global, where he was their Chief Technology Officer. Mark Sergeant, previously Group Managing Director of Genting Casinos in the U.K., was appointed Chief Operating Officer for our land-based casinos, and Nomzamo Radebe joined us as Chief Operating Officer of Hospitality and Sales from SA Corporate Real Estate, which she served as their COO. Technology is a really important part of our vision to be a digitally led organization. Significant work has gone into building our digital and technology capabilities. Leslie Peters has made several key appointments in this area, and we have started to build our next generation technology stack. This technology will unlock value, improve decision-making, and support strategic priorities across the organization. Now, let's get to the outlook.
Looking ahead, our focus is firmly on execution. 2026 started well across the group, and we are making good progress on our value creation plan that is aimed at growing revenue, increasing margin, and improving ROIC. We already see green shoots that our strategy is gaining traction. The 2026 year-to-date revenue for the group, excluding Table Bay, is in line with H2 of 2025, giving us confidence that the strategy is starting to gain traction. Thank you very much for listening, and now over to Norman.
Thank you, Ulrik. Starting with SunBet it was an exceptionally strong year, particularly in the second half. The performance was driven by continued growth in customer activity and the increasing scale of the platform. For the full year, income increased by 75.9% to ZAR 2.1 billion, supported by higher engagement levels and increased deposits. The momentum substantially accelerated in H2, with income up almost 80% compared to the prior period. Adjusted EBITDA before management fees increased to ZAR 744 million from ZAR 355 million last year. This reflects the benefit of operating leverage, disciplined cost management, and sustained engagement across the product suite, supported by our customer omni-channel base. We've continued to focus on improving the user experience and strengthening product capability, which is shown through increased customer acquisition and retention. Key operating metrics all recorded strong growth.
Unique active players were up 40.8%, first-time depositors increased by 47.7%, and total deposits more than doubled, up 101.5%. This reinforces both the scalability and quality of the earnings base. Operationally, we continue to enhance the platform. During the year, we launched a range of new game providers, significantly expanding the gaming offering. A particular highlight was the launch of our live dealer roulette offering, streamed directly from Sun City. This allows customers to bet online at a live roulette table in one of our casinos, a first for South Africa, and it has quickly become one of our top-performing games. SunBet's strategy centers on delivering a high-quality customer experience alongside market-leading player protection, supported by a strong commitment to responsible gambling, including the establishment of the Betting Operator Council to champion safe online gaming.
Overall, SunBet remains very well-positioned in a growing market. We remain focused on continuing to invest to scale the business and enhance long-term returns, particularly through ongoing investment in technology to support future growth and leverage. Turning to our urban casinos, they remain the cornerstone of the group, contributing just over 51% of total income. We also remain the market leader in land-based casinos in South Africa. For the year, the segment generated income of ZAR 6.5 billion, representing a modest decline of 2.7% year-on-year, with adjusted EBITDA before management fees of ZAR 2.1 billion. In response to the market environment, we launched a series of targeted strategic initiatives focused on product, people, and execution.
These initiatives rolled out in the second half of 2025, including increasing operational intensity, investing in premium gaming areas, retraining dealers to international benchmarks, and slot optimization performance through product-led investment. We are also leveraging our integrated entertainment offering to drive visitation and reinforce our leadership position. As the land-based gaming continues to evolve into a more digitally and experience-driven environment, we see meaningful opportunities to unlock further value from this portfolio. By combining disciplined execution, product innovation, and a strong people-focused culture we are repositioning our urban casinos as vibrant, integrated entertainment destinations. This approach is expected to deliver improved performance and stronger returns over the medium term. We have adopted a renewed approach to the urban casino business, focused on execution, accountability, and improving operating performance.
Going forward, reporting will align with the group's revised operating structure, ensuring it more closely reflects how the business is managed and performance is assessed. Under this model, the Chief Operating Officer: Gaming oversees all land-based casinos, while the Chief Operating Officer: Hospitality leads the hospitality portfolio, providing clear accountability across our integrated properties. Reporting will be done along these lines. Moving to Sun Slots. Sun Slots improved gross gaming revenue per machine per day resulted in a 2% year-on-year increase in income, taking total income to ZAR 1.4 billion. The business also delivered 1.8% growth in the second half. Adjusted EBITDA for the year was ZAR 334 million, reinforcing Sun Slots role as a key contributor to the group's operations and overall value creation plan.
Despite a reduction in the number of retail sports betting outlets, Sun Slots delivered positive results by executing its machine optimization strategy. This performance is particularly encouraging given the reduction in both the number of machines and sites, and it highlights the efficiency and resilience of the business. We also focused on redeploying machines to both new and existing sites, which helped minimize capital expenditure during the year. The strategic focus remains on optimizing the current portfolio, concentrating on the most attractive sites within each region, and leveraging the group's scale and market reach. The continued rollout of Type B licenses remains an important growth driver, and cost containment initiatives currently underway are expected to support improved financial performance in 2026, particularly in the second half of the year.
With regards to our resorts and hotels, optimizing the hospitality portfolio remains a key strategic priority, with a continued focus on revenue growth and margin enhancement. Excluding the Table Bay Hotel, the portfolio delivered a resilient performance, with revenue of ZAR 2.9 billion, up 4.7% year-over-year. The first half was more muted, reflecting macroeconomic pressure and the impact of refurbishment activity across parts of the portfolio, particularly at Sun City. Despite this, Sun City delivered a strong full-year performance. Income increased by 7.9% to ZAR 2.2 billion, supported by a 7.7% increase in net average daily room rates, reflecting disciplined yield management and sustained demand. Performance improved materially in the second half.
Sun City's H2 benefited from a meaningful uplift in both gaming and hospitality revenues compared to H1. December was a standout month, with income up 14.2% year-on-year, while H2 gaming turnover increased by 9.9% compared to 2024. This momentum was supported by stronger conferencing activity, improved international leisure demand, and a robust calendar of sporting and entertainment events hosted at Sun City. Across the broader portfolio, disciplined yield management drove a 6.9% increase in rooms and food and beverage revenue, supported by higher average room rates and improved RevPAR, particularly at Sun City. Looking ahead, resorts and hotels, and Sun City in particular, remain central to the group's integrated destination strategy, supporting casino visitation, strengthening the MVG loyalties ecosystem, and driving diversified revenue streams.
At a group level, excluding the impact of the Table Bay Hotel lease cessation, continuing income increased by 7.1%, while continuing adjusted EBITDA grew by 2.8%. The EBITDA was impacted by several non-recurring items. Adjusted headline earnings increased by 6% to ZAR 1.4 billion, translating into an adjusted headline earnings of ZAR 5.65 per share, a 6.4% increase year-on-year. The strong earnings performance together with disciplined capital allocation and robust cash generation resulted in the board declaring a final gross cash dividend of ZAR 2.52 per share, totaling ZAR 644 million. This brings the total dividend for the year to ZAR 4.24 per share, amounting to ZAR 1.1 billion.
Additionally, a special gross cash dividend of ZAR 1.00 per share, amounting to ZAR 256 million was declared, which is in line with the principles of our capital allocation framework. SunBet's contribution to the group continues to increase and now represents 16% of the group income and 20% of the group EBITDA, pre-management fees, further strengthening the group's diversified earnings base. The balance sheet remains strong. Net debt reduced to ZAR 5 billion, with net debt to adjusted EBITDA at 1.5x . Interest cover remains robust at 7.9x , well within covenant levels, and available liquidity of ZAR 2.3 billion provides the group with ongoing financial flexibility. During the year, we've successfully refinanced our debt facilities, extending the duration of the debt profile and achieving a pleasing two-time subscription from lenders at attractive pricing.
Capital investment remains focused on our strategic priorities. During the year, ZAR 439 million was invested in major refurbishments, including ZAR 280 million at the Sun City Hotel and ZAR 121 million at the Vacation Club Reserve. These refurbishment projects are largely complete with finalization in the current year and are not expected to require any significant capital spend in 2026. In addition, ZAR 607 million was invested in ongoing CapEx focused on core operations. This included ZAR 336 million across gaming and a further ZAR 131 million invested in gaming technology to support performance, scalability, and future growth. Looking ahead, CapEx discipline remains a key focus, with the group targeting a CapEx envelope of between ZAR 900 million and ZAR 1.2 billion through the cycle.
Cash generation was a key highlight for the year. We converted 101.1% of adjusted EBITDA into operating cash, with 54.7% flowing through to free cash, totaling ZAR 1.9 billion. Cash inflows also included contingent proceeds from the LatAm disposal, and this strong cash generation funded dividends, share buybacks, and further debt reduction. I will briefly touch on a few key matters, starting with impairment. The impairment of goodwill recognized during the year relates to EasyBet, now SunBet Africa Holdings, which was acquired in September 2022. This reflects a reassessment of the carrying value based on current expectations. Turning to the Western Cape, following the decision taken by the Western Cape Gambling and Racing Board regarding the license relocation, the group has resolved to take that decision under review.
We will continue to engage through the appropriate legal and regulatory processes. On the regulatory front, the group continues to monitor developments around the Tobacco Products and Electronic Delivery Systems Control Bill. At this stage, there is no change to our approach, but we remain closely engaged as the process evolves. Our non-core assets, this includes the remaining contingent consideration relating to Dreams, with the remaining amounts receivable over the next two years totaling approximately ZAR 185 million. Proceeds from our disposal of our interest in Swazi Spa in liquidation of circa ZAR 50 million is still subject to a raft of regulatory approvals, and proceeds from the disposal of the Carousel land of ZAR 80 million is subject to municipal approvals. We continue to monitor low-return assets for opportunities to optimize the portfolio. To conclude, 2025 was a solid year for the group.
We delivered resilient performance across a diversified portfolio, strengthening the balance sheet and generating strong cash flows while continuing to invest in the business. We enter 2026 from a position of strength. The balance sheet is robust, capital allocation remains disciplined, and cash generation continues to support both reinvestment and returns to shareholders. With a strong foundation in place and clear strategic priorities, we remain confident in the group's ability to deliver sustainable growth and value for shareholders. Thank you.