French gaming giant La Française des Jeux (FDJ) reported an increase in revenue and holdings during the first quarter, despite continuing restrictions on retail activities due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Total revenue for the three months through March 31 reached € 537.6 million, an increase of 5.2% over € 511.2 million in the same period last year. Gross gaming revenue increased 5.1% to € 525.9 million, while revenue from other activities rose 10.7%, from € 10.6 million to € 11.8 million.
FDJ said revenue growth was driven by a rise in betting, with players spending a total of € 4.6 billion, up 11.8% from € 4.11 billion in the first quarter of last year, despite operator faces longer restrictions than in the same period in 2020.
After all, France did not introduce measures to contain Covid-19 in retail until mid-March 2020, although sports betting has been limited since early March due to the cancellation of almost all sporting events.
This year, the operator said that about 10% of its points of sale – mainly bars – were closed throughout the quarter, while players were also impacted by a 7 pm curfew and travel restrictions.
However, despite these limitations, players’ spending increased in all areas of the group, mainly in sports betting, where bets rose 46.1% to € 1.1 billion, leveraged by the return of the traditional sports calendar after the interruption in the last part of the first quarter 2020.
Lottery stands out as FDJ’s main source of revenue
The lottery continued to be the main source of revenue for the FDJ, with holdings rising 3.8% to € 3.46 billion. Sweepstakes based betting increased by 2.6% over the previous year to € 1.3 billion, while instant game betting also increased by 4.6% to € 2.1 billion.
Digital betting increased by 64.7% to € 1.4 billion, as more players switched to online platforms during this first quarter.
Players won a total of € 3.20 billion in games with the FDJ during the period, an increase of 13.7% compared to € 2.81 billion at the same time last year. € 1.4 billion remained in gross gaming revenue and, after paying € 915.7 million in public fees, the revenue was € 537.6 million.
“Despite the elongated impact of the health crisis, the first quarter confirmed the good trends in our business, with stakes in bets exceeding the levels recorded before the crisis,” said FDJ President Stéphane Pallez.
Pallez added: “After reaching almost 10% of our global stakes in 2020, digital betting continues to grow at a strong pace. With a program of lottery events and a busy sporting calendar, including Euro 2021 in football, it should allow that level to continue in the coming months ”.
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