Groupe Française des Jeux (FDJ) has announced an increase in lottery wagers and online lottery sales and upgraded its full-year 2020 corporate forecasts as a result.

In its Q3 2020 trading update (period ending 30 September), FDJ revealed a 1% increase in group lottery wagers to €3.4bn, 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 €3bn, reflecting a customer payout ratio of 69% (Q3 2019: 67%) with FDJ highlighting that its sports betting customers had benefited from favourable results.

Stéphane Pallez, Group CEO, said: “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.

“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 underlined that the company is focused on maximising Q4 results as it looks to benefit from a packed end of year lottery schedule and an increase in sports activities.

Updating its corporate forecast, FDJ targeted closing full-year 2020 wagers at €16bn to help the company achieve net revenues of €1.9bn, finishing year trading at 7% behind its prior 2020 uninterrupted expectations.