SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
A strong ‘sports recovery’ combined with the reopening of its retail point-of-sales network has seen Groupe Française des Jeux (FDJ) upgrade its full-year 2020 corporate forecasts.
Publishing its Q3 2020 trading update (period ending 30 September), FDJ underlines that it has recorded an ‘accelerated recovery since mid-June’ as group wagers increase 6% to €4.4 billion.
The Paris Euronext firm states that it has benefited from a ‘packed sports calendar’ as its sports betting unit (online + POS) records a +27% increase in wagers to ‘just under €1 billion’.
Meanwhile, FDJ sustained a 1% increase in group lottery wagers to €3.4 billion, with the company highlighting the effective reactivation of its AMIGO retail POS network, combined with a 44% increase in online lottery sales to €400m.
Combined Q3 player winnings for lottery and sports betting totalled €3 billion, reflecting a customer payout ratio of 69% (Q3 2019: 67%) with FDJ highlighting that its sports betting customers had benefited from favourable results.
Returning to its full operating capacity, FDJ maintained a stable GGR (stakes – payout) of €1.3 billion, as corporate net revenues matched its 2019 results of €0.5 billion.
Year-to-date, FDJ states that its group wagers stand at €11.2 billion, currently tracking at 10% behind YTD 2019 results of €12.6 billion.
Meanwhile, having absorbed significant Q2’s trading impacts, FDJ states that its current YTD group GGR stands at €3.5 billion, lagging 10.5% behind its YTD 2019 comparatives of €4 billion.
Despite its wagering and revenue declines, FDJ notes that it has reduced its corporate new revenues to YTD €1.35 billion, currently trading 5% behind its 2019 results of €1.4 billion.
“The third quarter confirmed the good momentum seen since mid-June and recovery in our business at levels comparable to 2019. The Group thus demonstrates its resilience and its reactivity,” said Stéphane Pallez, Group CEO of the FDJ Group.
“Over the entire year, without new measures of general restrictions linked to the evolution of the health environment, the impact of the crisis on our revenue should be contained, and our EBITDA margin should remain at a high level, thanks to the strong mobilisation of our employees and our distribution network, as well as the cost reduction measures that we have implemented as early as March.”
Closing its statement, FDJ governance underlines that the company is focused on maximising Q4 results as the company will benefit from a packed end of year lottery schedule and an increase in sports activities.
Updating its corporate forecast, FDJ targets closing full-year 2020 wagers at €16 billion to help the company achieve net revenues of €1.9 billion, finishing year trading at 7% behind its prior 2020 uninterrupted expectations.
Signing-off accounts, Pallez and FDJ governance reaffirm that the company continues to operate on its cost reduction plan targeting group-wide savings of €80 million.
