A more than satisfactory annual report. La Française des jeux (FDJ) announced on Wednesday February 15 that it had garnered 20.6 billion euros in bets in 2022. Compared to the previous year, this amount is up by 8.7%, thanks in particular to a " significant growth" of the lottery. Turnover is up 9.1% to 2.46 billion euros, slightly better than expected – the group expected 8% – and than anticipated by analysts consulted by the financial agency Bloomberg. (2.44 billion) and by the data provider FactSet (2.45 billion), specifies a press release published on Wednesday.
On the lottery, of which the FDJ holds the monopoly, the increase in turnover, of 11% to 1.9 billion euros, reflects "the good intrinsic dynamic of the games and the return to normal in the network of points of sale "(bars-tabacs, press points ...) post-health crisis, comments the group. Draw games have benefited from "the attractiveness of Loto and Euromillions, with a significant number of high jackpots", while instant games are benefiting from "successful game launches and relaunches, including Cash, X10 and X20, and Aces heart,” he explains.
On the other hand, the turnover of sports betting and online games in competition only gained 1% to 467 million euros despite the activity generated by the Football World Cup at the end of 2022. The first half suffered from a high basis of comparison, with UEFA Euro 2020 being held a year earlier – delayed by a year due to Covid-19.
While bets increased by 8% in the physical network to 18.1 billion euros in 2022 thanks to "high attendance", their progress is "normalizing" on the Internet - they increase by 16% to 2.5 billion euros. euros to represent 12% of total bets – after doubling between 2019 and 2021, due to the health crisis.
The number of online lottery players has doubled since 2019: they are 5 million, two out of three of whom also play at a point of sale. For 2023, the group expects an increase in turnover of "4 to 5%" and a "current EBITDA margin rate maintained at around 24%".
The FDJ reaffirms its desire to "strengthen itself on the French competitive online gaming market" thanks to the poker offer launched in November on its Parions Sport application, and the acquisition of the ZEturf group, the 2nd horse betting operator online – also present on online sports betting with ZEbet. The CEO, Stéphane Pallez, quoted by the press release, welcomes "very good results" due to a "significant growth" of the activity in the 30,000 points of sale of the FDJ network and "a continuation of the digital dynamic" .
