The operator suffered a loss for the six months to the end of September but 14 of the group’s 17 hotels were open by October 2020.

It said: “The UIF temporary employer/employee relief scheme has been of great assistance in alleviating the cash flow burden on both the company and its employees, while hotels have been closed or operating at low occupancy levels. The group has processed R103 million in grants over the period.”

However, with this assistance coming to an end and with occupancy levels unlikely to improve in the short term, the group will have to consider further operational restructuring to align headcount with trading levels,” Tsogo Sun said.

Tsogo Sun felt the full force of lockdown with an 84 per cent drop in total income to R335m. Gaming revenue accounted for most of the total but was down 70.9 per cent. There was a 91 per cent decline in hotel room revenue and food and beverage revenue. The company’s casinos only began to reopen from July 1 whilst its Galaxy Bingo chain reopened in phases between July and September with revenue falling 75.1 per cent.
“These interim results clearly reflect the devastating impact that Covid-19 and the accompanying lockdown regulations have had on the hospitality industry in general and our group in particular,” Tsogo Sun said.
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“The Government’s regulatory restrictions such as the curfew, limited capacity and ban on alcohol sales, had a substantial negative impact on the results for this interim reporting period. With reduced levels of revenue due to restricted trading, offset by a lower cost base, only essential capex to be spent and no dividends paid to shareholders, we are of the view that debt levels can be reduced significantly by September 2021.”

“With the significant investment in infrastructure, high employment numbers and staff costs, casinos were not built to operate in a constrained environment, thereby placing severe pressure on the group’s cash flow and debt position for the period under review,” it added.

“The resultant focus on reducing operating expenses was therefore inevitable and this should provide a positive impact on the group’s ability to survive, recover and emerge a strong business subsequent to the current crisis.”

Interactive and technological development and the change in marketing focus are also expected to enhance the casino customer experience. The group’s new website was launched in October under tsogosungaming.com.

It added: “The Bingo division obtained some rental relief from its landlords for the period until September 2020, but rental costs reverted to the full contractual costs from October 2020. There are limited cost savings opportunities in this division. The trading levels at Bingo sites were also constrained by floor limitations and the curfew.”

The LPM division has recovered faster than all the other businesses in the group as a result of its low cost base, being a non-operational business and the low number of machines per site making social distancing easier to manage.

Tsoso added: “Unfortunately the impact of the pandemic was felt with some permanent site closures resulting in not all LPMs being operational as yet (95 per cent at September 30 2020). The dedicated management team of the LPM division is pleased to report that in October 2020 the business exceeded the 2020 year end average per month performance for the first time since the pandemic crisis.”

“The month of October delivered a solid performance and a further improvement as a result of the relaxation of the curfew being applicable for the full month.” it added.