SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
Freshly rebranded FDJ United has reported a decline in online sports betting revenue in Q1 trading, coming one quarter after its acquisition of Kindred Group.
The operator of the French national lottery significantly expanded its reach in sports betting when it completed its €2.45bn takeover of Swedish founded Kindred, the operator of the Unibet sportsbook and 32Red online casino brands.
However, there have been some tough adjustments. The company’s Q1 report shows a 10% drop in betting and gaming revenue from €256m to €231m. FDJ attributed this to regulatory transitions in the UK and Netherlands as well as an increase in taxation in the latter, where revenue fell 41%.
The group is still confident though, with active player numbers up 10% year-over-year and 5% from Q4 2024, adding that sports betting revenue would have risen 8% YoY if the difficult markets of the UK and Netherlands were excluded.
Providing a solid ballpark against the online betting difficulties was FDJ’s retail betting, which was up 2% YoY to €561m. This was coupled with its arguable flagship and most historic product – its lottery division, which was also significantly expanded last year and saw revenue rise 5% to €528m.
The firm attributed what it called a’buoyant’ performance of retail betting to an extensive range of football bets on offer due to the new format of European competitions like the Champions League, as well as the continuing popularity of French domestic football.
Overall, group revenue at the close of Q1 stood at €925m, down 1% from 2024 and also marking a drop from the €998m recorded in Q4 2024, though FDJ remains one of the French market leaders with market share of over 20%.
Are things looking good for FDJ lottery?
Last year was a year of acquisition for FDJ, which as stated above saw the company acquire Swedish betting and gaming multinational Kindred. This followed on from a similar year in 2023 which saw the firm become the operator of Ireland’s National Lottery.
Two years on from its acquisition of Premier Lotteries Ireland (PLI) in late 2023, FDJ’s lottery division remains its standout segment – unsurprising given how many millions of people in both France and Ireland buy national lottery tickets each year.
Q1 accounts showed a 3.6% increase in lottery and retail sports betting revenue, which as stated above provided a bulwark against tricky online betting trading, from €618m to €640m.
However, international lottery revenue was down 21% from €49m to €38m, suggesting that the firm’s takeover of the Irish National Lottery has been facing some hurdles.
“FDJ United performance in the first quarter is in line with the trajectory planned for 2025,” said Stéphane Pallez, FDJ United CEO and Chairwoman.
“Against the backdrop of tougher regulation and taxation in some of its markets, it reflects good momentum in points of sale and an increase in the number of online active players in all its markets.
“Beyond this, the Group is fully committed to the transformation associated with the implementation of its international and digital strategy.”
