FDJ United reported a decline in revenue and gross gaming revenue (GGR) for the first half of the year, affected by increased tax burdens and underwhelming lottery performance. Announced on Wednesday, FDJ’s revenue fell by 4.5% to €1.78 billion, while the GGR dropped by 1.3% to €4.31 billion.
Stéphane Pallez, the CEO and chairwoman of FDJ, attributed these financial setbacks to enhanced taxation in several key markets, including France, Romania, the UK, and the Netherlands. The impact of increased gaming taxes for the first half amounted to approximately €52 million.
Lottery performance contributed to the downturn, with GGR declining by 2.1% to €2.98 billion and revenue sliding 4% to €1.02 billion. In FDJ’s earnings announcement, Pallez noted that this underperformance stemmed from significantly fewer major Euromillions jackpots compared to 2025 and decreased customer traffic at retail points of sale, which was exacerbated by exceptional heatwaves in the second quarter.
Additionally, retail sports betting struggled in the first half of 2026, experiencing a GGR downturn of 1.1% to €450 million, and a revenue decline of 2.9% to €218 million.
Despite these challenges, Pallez remains optimistic about the company's direction: "Backed by solid fundamentals and a robust financial structure, FDJ United continues to invest in innovation, the attractiveness of its product portfolio, and the acceleration of its transformation in order to return to a path of sustainable, profitable, and value-creating growth."
In terms of online operations, FDJ reported that its betting and gaming sector performed "in line with expectations." The GGR for this unit remained stable at €702 million, although revenue saw a 7.4% decrease to €431 million. Regions such as France and Scandinavia were noted for leading in performance, and even when excluding the Netherlands and the UK, the GGR increased by 6.6%, with revenue inching up by 0.6%.
FDJ acknowledged that its online business in the Netherlands is showing signs of improvement amidst tough conditions. The Unibet brand witnessed a 4.1% fall in GGR in the second quarter, a notable improvement compared to the 15% drop in the first quarter. However, the outlook for the UK is challenging, with FDJ describing the situation as "difficult."
In an April statement following FDJ’s first-quarter results, gaming and betting chief Pascal Chaffard confirmed the company’s commitment to staying in the UK online market. "For me, there is absolutely no question of getting out of the UK," he asserted. "The top priority is to fix this problem, and it’s more a question of some quarters, maybe not one quarter, [but] some quarters [more than] than years to get there, frankly."
The company has initiated plans to implement "targeted task forces" aimed at fostering collaboration and enhancing performance in both the UK and Netherlands.
FDJ’s financial outlook for fiscal year 2026 has also been adjusted in light of its H1 results. Earlier, FDJ projected slight GGR growth and minor revenue declines for the full year. It expected annual revenue growth from its French lottery and retail sports betting unit but now anticipates stable GGR for both the lottery and retail sports betting unit, as well as the online betting and gaming unit. Revenue declines are now expected to be in the low single digits.
In H1, FDJ achieved an adjusted net profit of €180 million and plans to optimize resource allocation moving forward.
