Hospitality

Consumer and business confidence are important drivers in both gaming and hotel businesses. Readily disposable income results in family vacations, trips abroad and a willingness to take on bigger bets when gambling. Business travel is also impacted by economic fluctuations and government spend.

We have witnessed how economic volatility has negatively impacted the hospitality sector in the past decades, but the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic is unprecedented.

The lockdown, smoking ban, alcohol bans, curfews, closure of provincial borders, limited air travel and general contagion anxiety have severely impacted both gaming enterprises and large hotel groups. Recouping lost revenue will take time and the industry will need to look for new expansion opportunities.

For gaming, this includes sports betting, bingo terminals and limited pay-out machines in pubs. We expect to see hotel groups consolidating and acquiring other entities, both locally and across the continent.

Our ability to support our clients both during and post this crisis is crucial. Over and above interest and capital deferrals, we are working closely with long-term clients to find solutions through restructuring, asset sales, capital raising, and assessing optimal debt and equity capacity.

In working with many of Southern Africa’s most established hotel groups, we are leveraging our expertise, long-term relationships and extensive networks across different industries to find solutions that can support our hospitality clients.

This is the real value that Absa CIB endeavours to bring to every engagement and relationship.

We focus on long-term growth and evaluate risks, rewards and opportunities that will deliver according to that objective.