FDJ United has reported a decline in both revenue and gross gaming revenue (GGR) for the first half of the year, attributing these losses to increased taxation and subpar performance in its lottery segment.
In its H1 results released on Wednesday, the company revealed a 4.5% drop in revenue, amounting to €1.78 billion, while GGR dropped 1.3% to €4.31 billion.
Stéphane Pallez, the CEO and chairwoman of FDJ, explained that the downturn was largely affected by higher taxes in significant markets such as France, Romania, the UK, and the Netherlands. Specifically, the company faced an impact of about €52 million due to gaming tax increases.
The lottery sector, which traditionally contributes significantly to FDJ’s revenue, saw its GGR decrease by 2.1% to €2.98 billion, with revenue falling 4% to €1.02 billion. Pallez noted that this decline stemmed from a notably lower frequency and amount of major Euromillions jackpots compared to 2025, along with reduced customer traffic at retail locations during the second quarter due to extreme heatwaves.
In the realm of retail sports betting, FDJ also experienced challenges, with GGR slipping 1.1% to €450 million and revenue dropping 2.9% to €218 million.
Despite these setbacks, Pallez expressed optimism about the company's prospects, stating, "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."
On the brighter side, the online betting and gaming division met FDJ’s expectations, reporting a stable GGR of €702 million. However, revenue in this segment decreased by 7.4% to €431 million. Positive trends were observed, particularly in France and Scandinavia, with GGR rising 6.6% when excluding the Netherlands and the UK, and revenue experiencing a minor increase of 0.6%.
FDJ’s performance in the Netherlands continues to improve amidst a challenging landscape, with its Unibet brand showing a significant recovery from a Q1 GGR decline of 15%, only experiencing a 4.1% drop in Q2. Conversely, the outlook for the UK remains challenging, with the company noting that "the situation remains difficult."
In April, following FDJ's Q1 results, Pascal Chaffard, head of gaming and betting, reaffirmed the company's commitment to the UK market, stating, "For me, there is absolutely no question of getting out of the UK. 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."
FDJ has initiated plans for targeted task forces aimed at improving collaboration and performance in both the UK and Netherlands markets.
In light of its recent performance, FDJ has slightly adjusted its full-year guidance. Initially, the company anticipated a minor increase in GGR and a slight revenue decline for FY2026, predicting growth for its French lottery and retail sports betting units.
However, following the first half’s results, FDJ now expects stable GGR for the full year across both its lottery and retail sports betting and online betting and gaming units, along with a revenue decrease projected to remain in the low single digits.
For H1, FDJ reported an adjusted net profit of €180 million, and the company intends to optimize its resource allocation moving forward.
