Southern Sun reports bumper profits as tourism and conferencing pick up

Southern Sun has reported an 88% leap in profit for the year to end-March 2024.

The hotel group said this was driven by cost-saving measures and a boom in tourism and business events in the Western Cape, particularly Cape Town.

Group revenue grew 19% to more than R6 billion, compared to just over R5 billion for the previous financial year.

Group adjusted headline profit jumped 77% to R783 million.

Adjusted headline earnings per per share (HEPS) grew 88% to 56.4 cents per share.

The Group declared a final dividend of 12.50 cents per ordinary share, its first since unbundling from Tsogo Sun.

Bruce Whitfield interviews Marcel Nikolaus von Aulock, CEO of Southern Sun, and asks about the size of the group's portfolio.

"We're outright owners of about 70 of our 95 hotels. Then we've got a couple of hotels that we lease.... and then we've got hotels that we manage for third parties, most of which are our timeshare resorts."

"One of he reasons we did so well now is that we've got all this stock in Cape Town... those acquisitions from the Liberty Group were good ones, but were they obvious at the time? No, but now the tourism boom makes us look clever."

Marcel Nikolaus von Aulock, CEO - Southern Sun

Large-scale conferencing has come back strongly, von Aulock says.

The only part that is missing from business travel, is the individual 'transient', he goes on.

"I'd say this year the Cape Town Convention Centre probably had its best year on record; we're booked out three years in advance as the people stay in our hotels."

Marcel Nikolaus von Aulock, CEO - Southern Sun