- Compared with the first quarter of 2020, stakes up 12% at €4.6 billion, and revenue up 5% at €0.5 billion
- Compared with the first quarter of 2019, stakes up 6%, and revenue up 4%
- Continued strong growth in online stakes, preserved network activity despite sanitary measures
- Momentum in sports betting confirmed, good performance for Loto and Euromillions
Boulogne-Billancourt (France), 15 April 2021 (5:45 p.m.) – La Française des Jeux (FDJ), France’s leading gaming operator, announces its stakes and revenue for the first quarter of 2021.
Stéphane Pallez, Chairwoman and CEO of the FDJ Group, said: “Despite the enduring impact of the health situation on the environment, the first quarter confirmed the good trends in our business, with stakes exceeding the levels recorded before the crisis. After reaching almost 10% of our global stakes in 2020, digital stakes continue to grow at a strong rate whereas our network activity is maintained. The events program for lottery and a busy sporting calendar, including Euro 2021 in football, should allow this momentum to continue in the months to come.”
As a preliminary comment, the Group notes that:
- The measures taken by the French authorities to contain the Covid-19 epidemic are affecting its point-of-sale business, with:
- Nearly 10% of the Group’s points of sale, mainly bars, closed throughout the first quarter of 2021, compared with just the second fortnight of March in 2020;
- A curfew, currently set at 7:00 p.m., and travel restrictions in place.
- In 2020, the first period of lockdown began on 17 March. The sports betting offer began to contract from 7 March until the cancellation of the overwhelming majority of sporting competitions in mid-March. The Group suspended the Amigo game on 19 March.
In the first quarter of 2021, compared with the first quarter of 2019, FDJ recorded an increase of +6 % in stakes and of +4 % in revenue.
In the first quarter of 2021, compared with the first quarter of 2020, FDJ recorded an increase of 11.8% in stakes, bringing them to €4,591 million; revenue was up 5.2% at €538 million.
Stakes recorded by FDJ in the first quarter of 2021 amounted to €4.6 billion, breaking down as:
- Lottery stakes of €3.5 billion, up 3.8% and more than 10% excluding Amigo:
- Draw game stakes of €1.3 billion, up 2.6% and more than 20% excluding Amigo.
- The closure of bars and strict sanitary measures limiting overcrowding in point-of-sale continue to have a significant impact on Amigo, whose stakes are down more than 50%.
- Loto and Euromillions stakes, which were up more than 20%, benefited from several long cycles, notably Euromillions, with a new record win of €210 million.
- Instant games stakes totalled €2.1 billion, up 4.6%. They benefited in particular from the good performance of launches and relaunches during the quarter.
- Momentum was strong in digital lottery, with growth of nearly 90%, driven by the near 70% increase in the number of players compared with the first quarter of 2020. As such, digital stakes virtually doubled their weight in the lottery segment to nearly 12%. Beyond a favourable comparison base, the digital lottery business benefited notably from the diversification and enrichment of its offer, and from the significant increase in its player base in 2020.
- Draw game stakes of €1.3 billion, up 2.6% and more than 20% excluding Amigo.
- With the calendar of sporting events back to normal, sports betting stakes totalled €1.1 billion, an increase of 46.1% driven by a high player pay-out ratio, which encouraged reinvestment.
- Stakes were up across all distribution channels:
- +5.7% on points of sale to nearly €4 billion;
- +87.2% online to nearly €0.6 billion, i.e. more than 12% of the Group’s total stakes, compared with more than 7% in the first quarter of 2020.
Prizes won totalled €3.1 billion, up almost 14%, i.e. a player pay-out (PPO) ratio of 68.7% compared with 67.5% in Q1 2020. The increase in the PPO mainly reflects the greater relative weight of sports betting, where the PPO was up significantly, resulting notably from a succession of football matches won by the favourites.
As such, gross gaming revenue (GGR, i.e. stakes less player winnings) came to €1.4 billion, up 7.7%, and net gaming revenue (NGR, i.e. GGR less public levies on gaming), was up 5.1%.
The FDJ Group’s revenue totalled €538 million (+5.2%).
Annual General Meeting
FDJ is to hold its General Meeting on 16 June. As the significant number of shareholders makes it impossible to guarantee compliance with social distancing measures and the health safety of its shareholders and employees in the event of a general meeting allowing physical attendance, the Group has decided to hold it behind closed doors and to stream it on its website.
The Group’s next financial communication
FDJ will publish its half-yearly results on 29 July after trading and will issue its 2021 outlook as soon as possible.
Appendices
In € million |
Q1 2021 |
Q1 2020 |
Change |
Stakes* |
4,591.1 |
4,108.1 |
+11.8 % |
Of which lottery |
3,461.5 |
3,334.1 |
+3.8 % |
Draw games |
1,341.1 |
1,307.0 |
+2.6 % |
Instant games** |
2,120.4 |
2,027.1 |
+4.6 % |
Of which Sports betting |
1,120.0 |
766.5 |
+46.1 % |
Digitalised stakes*** |
1,368.2 |
823.4 |
+64.7 % |
Offline stakes |
4,021.4 |
3,803.5 |
+5.7 % |
* Stakes reflect wagers by players, and do not constitute the revenue of the FDJ Group
** Mainly scratch games (point of sale and online)
*** Digitalised stakes include online and digitalised stakes at the point of sale, i.e. using a digital service/application for their preparation, prior to registration by the distributor
In € million |
Q1 2021 |
Q1 2020 |
Change |
Stakes |
4,591.1 |
4,108.1 |
+11.8 % |
Player pay-out |
-3,153.8 |
-2,773.9 |
+13.7 % |
Average PPO (%) |
68.7% |
67.5% |
|
Gross gaming revenue (GGR) |
1,437.3 |
1,334.2 |
+7.7 % |
Public levies |
-915.7 |
-837.6 |
+9.3 % |
NGR – Other sports betting activities |
4.3 |
3.9 |
+9.4 % |
Net gaming revenue (NGR) |
525.9 |
500.5 |
+5.1 % |
Revenue from other activities |
11.8 |
10.6 |
+10.7 % |
Revenue |
537.6 |
511.2 |
+5.2 % |
