SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
Stéphane Pallez, CEO of Groupe FDJ, has emphasised the importance of preserving the positive social impact of the French national lottery and its betting subsidiary during ‘uncertain times.’
Two years after Groupe FDJ’s Paris Euronext IPO, 2022 saw the French lottery giant bring its retail unit of 14,500 points-of-sale network back to business.
Servicing 25 million players, an uninterrupted FDJ achieved peak wagers of €20.6 billion, of which €14 billion was returned to winning customers, generating a €4.4 billion contribution to French good causes.
“In 2022, despite an uncertain global context, FDJ’s performance was very solid. The growth in point-of-sale activity is a matter of satisfaction because it reflects the resilience of our network of partner merchants,” Pallez reflected.
“I also remember from this financial year the continuation of the good momentum of the digital activity, particularly the online lottery which now has nearly five million players. Our sports betting activity continued to be supported by the development of the offer and benefited from a historic World Cup.”
As Europe’s second-largest lottery operator, FDJ maintains its ‘2022-2025’ guidance in which it aims to deliver investors an “annual revenue growth of +4% to +5%.”
Critical to achieving its ambitious objectives is the continued advancement of its tech resources to improve customer identification both online and at points-of-sale through exclusive offers, services, optimised routes, and relational benefits.
An enhanced understanding of customers will enable personalized experiences and strengthen responsible gaming systems, in which FDJ has pledged the financial targets of “generating over 20% average annual growth in digital stakes between 2022-2025 and achieving an EBITDA margin rate above 25% by 2025.”
“In France, we wish to pursue the development of our ‘payment’ activities. Internationally, where we market our solutions on the B2B market, we aim to manage lottery and online gaming activities.”
“By 2025, we are aiming for an average annual increase in our turnover of between +4% and +5%. To achieve this, we continue to strengthen the lottery’s growth levers, which are its continued digitization and the progression of the omnichannel offering.”
Pallez’s guidance aims to build a value-creating customer relationship while reinforcing responsible gambling – as FDJ commits to a target of “less than 2% share of gross online lottery gaming revenue from high-risk players by 2025.”
2023 will be a transformative year for FDJ as it launches its new multi-channel payment system to strengthen the Française des Jeux retail network.
Further developments will see FDJ diversify its sports betting offering, in which the company will launch its new horse racing platform, finalising its €170 million acquisition of French heritage racing operator ZeTurf.
The group further highlighted its expanded CSR duties, with FDJ joining the ‘Paris Organising Committee‘ for the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games – set to be the biggest sporting event hosted by France.
“In France, we wish to pursue the development of our ‘payment’ activities. Internationally, where we market our solutions on the B2B market, we aim to manage lottery and online gaming activities.”
“This year we will intensify our CSR actions and maintain our extra-financial performance at the highest level. This strategy, which combines performance and commitment, will enable us to further strengthen our responsible growth model, based on player protection, and to amplify our positive impact on society.”
