The Française des Jeux (FDJ) Group has published its financial results for the first quarter of 2021, recording an increase in revenues and wagers when compared to the last two years.
While the group’s business was hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, with 10% of its sale points closed throughout Q1 2021, wagers increased by 11.8% to €4,591m year-on-year. The operator also reported an increase in sales of 5.2% to €538m.
President and CEO Stéphane Pallez commented: “Despite an environment still affected by the health context, the first quarter confirms the good direction of our activities, with bets exceeding pre-crisis levels.
“After reaching almost 10% of the business in 2020, digital bets continue to grow at a high rate and network activity continues. The lottery event programme and a dense sports calendar, including the Euro football tournament, should allow us to continue this momentum in the coming months.”
A breakdown of the firm’s Q1 tally of €4.6bn in betting activity shows that lottery bets generated €3.5bn, up 3.8% and more than 10% excluding Amigo. The remaining €1.3bn came from draw bets, up 2.6% and more than 20% excluding Amigo.
Bar closures and strict sanitary measures restricting point-of-sale parking continue to have a significant impact on the Amigo business, whose bets are down by more than 50%. Meanwhile, Lotto and Euromillions bets, which grew by more than 20%, benefited from several long cycles, notably Euromillions with a new record gain of €210m.
FDJ’s instant gaming bets reached €2.1bn, up 4.6%. The company cited strong performances relating to launches and relaunches during the quarter.
The group’s digital lottery was up by almost 90%, driven by an increase of almost 70% in the number of players compared to Q1 2020. As a result, digital bets almost doubled their weight in the lottery to nearly 12%. Beyond a favourable comparison base, the digital lottery benefits, in particular, from the diversification and enrichment of its offer and the significant increase in its player base in 2020.
With a calendar of sports events returning to normal, FDJ’s sports betting bets amounted to €1.1bn, up 46.1%, driven by a high rate of return to players that encouraged reinvestment.
Bets, said FDJ, are progressing across all distribution channels. Point of sale saw an increase of 5.7% to almost €4bn; while online grew 87.2% to almost €0.6bn, equal to more than 12% of the group’s total bets.
FDJ will hold its general meeting on June 16. Due to social distancing requirements, the group has decided to hold it behind closed doors and publish coverage it on its website.
The group added that it will publish its half-year results on July 29 after the stock exchange and will release its 2021 outlook as soon as possible.