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JOHANNESBURG - Hotels and gaming group Sun International has flagged a doubling of headline earnings for its year to end-December, boosted by a strong performance in its hotels and resorts.

Headline earnings per share are expected to rise to between 213c and 237c per share from 106c previously, it said on Friday in a brief trading statement.

“Our urban casinos income rebounded with strong growth in income and improved margins, our hotels and resorts, especially Sun City, had an exceptional second half,” the company said.

SunSlots continued its strong performance while SunBet achieved exceptional growth in revenue and its key metrics, it said.

Valued at about R8.7 billion on the JSE, Sun’s casinos include Carnival City, Times Square and GrandWest, while its hotels and resorts include The Table Bay Hotel, Sun City and the Wild Coast Sun.The company’s shares lifted 3.4 per cent in morning trade on Friday, having risen by more than a third over the past year.

Markets on Friday tracked a Wall Street rally after a top Federal Reserve official said he would back a small interest-rate hike at its next meeting but hinted at a possible summer pause to see how tighter policy has impacted inflation.

Trading

A strong run of data sent chills through trading floors in February, wiping out almost all January’s rally, as investors realised the US central bank had more work to do to control prices.

The unease largely overshadowed optimism about China’s recovery after officials ended three years of strict zero-COVID-19 containment measures that battered the world’s number two economy. Several Fed policymakers have lined up this year to insist that while inflation is coming down, they remain determined to keep hiking rates until they hit their two per cent target.

The latest indicators have led investors to bet on rates hitting a peak of 5.5 per cent, though six per cent has also been mooted, putting further downward pressure on equities.

However, while talk has been swirling that the central bank could hike rates by 50 basis points at its March meeting, traders were given some much-needed hope by Atlanta Fed chief Raphael Bostic, who said he favoured a 25-point move.

He also questioned whether it should go much higher than 5.25 per cent from the current 4.54.75 per cent. That would allow the bank to pause its tightening in the summer. “I let the data guide me,” he said. “If the data continue to come in suggesting the economy is stronger than I had projected, I’ll adjust my policy trajectory.”