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REAL REASON WHY SUN INTERNATIONAL IS PULLING OUT OF NIGERIA

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Hotel and gaming group, Sun International is the latest South African business to pull out of Nigeria. South African hotelier cited Nigerian economy battling crises. Sun also embroiled in shareholder dispute at Federal Palace.


Sun International Ltd. plans to exit Nigeria after the South African casino and hotel operator’s earnings in the country plunged amid a weakening economy and a dispute involving the company’s local partners.

Sun International bought 49 percent of the Nigerian Stock Exchange-listed Tourist Company of Nigeria 10 years ago, giving it part-ownership of the Federal Palace hotel in Lagos, one of the main hotels used by businessmen traveling to the commercial capital. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization at the Nigerian operations fell 58 percent in the 12 months through June, Sun said in a statement on Monday. Occupancy rates at the property fell to 42 percent.

“The Federal Palace continues to operate in a difficult environment with the Nigerian economy facing a number of crises including the low oil price,” the Johannesburg-based company said in the statement. The Islamist insurgency led by the Boko Haram group and a weakening naira also hurt trading, while an “ongoing shareholder dispute has frustrated all attempts to develop and improve the property,” the company said.

Other South African companies to have left Nigeria include retailers Woolworths Holdings Ltd. and Truworths International Ltd., citing tough regulation and rising costs. 

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