Sun International, South Africa’s leading casino operator, has become the first African-based gaming company to enter the GBGC 50 Index – Global Betting and Gaming Consultants’ index of the 50 largest gambling companies by gambling market capitalisation .

Sun International entered the GBGC 50 Index at number 36, just above Churchill Downs.
Sun International earned 78% of its revenues from South Africa in 2011, with the group’s total revenue from all operations rising by 12% to R8,892 million. Operating profit fell by 2% to R1,705 million.
Sun International’s casino revenues grew by 12% to R6,981 million, accounting for 78.5% of all revenues.
The company runs a number of casinos and resorts across southern Africa, including the Sun City resort in South Africa’s North West province. 

“Sun International’s inclusion in the GBGC 50 as the first African-based gambling company reflects the wider development of the African gambling market. In our Global Gambling Report – Betting on Regulation we calculate that the total African gambling market was worth US$ 5.14 billion in gross gaming yield 2011, with casino gaming accounting for 62% of that figure,” explained GBGC’s Research Director Lorien Pilling. 
Specialist international gambling consultancy Global Betting and Gaming Consultants (GBGC) compiles two gambling specific stock market indices:
•    The GBGC 50: consists of the 50 largest gambling companies by their gambling market capitalisation. 
•    The iGBGC: consists of the 10 largest Internet/interactive gambling companies by their gambling market capitalisation. 
GBGC tracks the rise and fall of the indices as the fortunes of the constituent gambling companies wax and wane.
The total gambling market cap (i.e. market cap adjusted for share of revenues derived from gambling) of the 50 largest gaming companies in January 2012 decreased by 5% compared to April 2011, to US$185.3 billion.
Between January 2011 and January 2012 the GBGC 50 Index fell from 121.0 to 118.4, a decline of 2.1% over the course of 12 months. This, however, was a better performance than the iGBGC Index of I-gaming companies which fell by 7.7% over the year from 269.1 to 248.5.


The top 10 companies in the GBGC 50 continue to be dominated by operators focused on Asian gambling jurisdictions. Seven of the 10 largest gambling companies are Asian facing, including: Sands China, Wynn Macau, and SJM Holdings. Las Vegas Sands and Wynn Resorts also have significant revenues from Asian operations. 

Best & Worst Performers in the GBGC 50
The best performer in the GBGC 50 Index was Galaxy Entertainment, which saw its share price rise 53% over the year. The company opened its new Galaxy Macau casino in May 2011. Close behind Galaxy Entertainment was Kingston Financial (formerly Golden Resorts), which owns two casino hotels and offers entertainment services in Macau (up 51%), Irish-based bookmaker Paddy Power (up 46%) and Macau casino operator Melco Crown (up 45%). 

The worst performing shares were gaming machine manufacturer WMS (down 55%), Sportingbet (down 47.3%), which actually fell out of the index starting from January 2012 (it is now ranked 56th), and Greek lottery and sports betting giant OPAP (down 47.2%).