Moneyweb Holdings is an integrated media company focusing on producing independent, high quality investment information. It also produces South Africa’s leading radio business programme Moneyweb Power Hour, an hour long live show every weekday at prime time evening listening. Yesterday it produced something of a scoop when it interviewed all three CEOs of South Africa’s leading gaming companies.

First up was David Coutts-Trotter, chief executive of Sun International. The company had earlier announced it was looking to buy 40% of the Chilean company that had been granted an exclusive 15-year casino licence in what is probably the best location in the country – next to the huge and wealthy metropolitan area of Santiago. David Coutts-Trotter commented that any significant expansion within South Africa at present would be challenging.

Steven Joffe is CEO of Gold Reef Resorts, the company that has acquired the seventh and final Gauteng casino licence. Following prolonged court cases lasting around 8 years the new Silverstar Casino is now under construction near Krugersdorp, but will be limited to 700 slot machines and 30 tables. Steven Joffe pointed out that the casinos in South Africa have brought great infrastructure benefits to the country, including many of the facilities that brought the award of the 2010 World Cup competition.

Peermont Global last year bought Emperors Palace from Caesars as well as rival Tusk Resorts. CEO Ernie Joubert has headed the recent delisting of Peermont, taking the company private again. He is shortly to leave the company to pursue an offshore project but says that he is leaving Peermont with a very comprehensive development programme and tremendous future prospects over the next 5 years.

Moneyweb broadcast the interviews with the aim of helping investors to decide whether to ‘cash in’ on one of the fastest growing sectors in South Africa. Potentially there are further market gains to be made in share prices, despite recent gains. There was also a question about future growth in online operations as South Africa, like the UK, is about to regulate the activity. Steven Joffe commented that Gold Reef would probably enter the online market once the law was in place but did not see it as either a threat to live casino action or becoming a major sector following the US clampdown. (E-03.20.07)

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