France’s online gaming and betting trends remained broadly the same during the second quarter of 2015 according to ARJEL’s figures.
The French igaming regulator’s data for the period showed that French punters’ consumption of online sports betting products rose 18% to €338m on the same period in 2014, thanks in part to a 5% rise in weekly active player accounts.
The strong activity experienced by the licensed operators so far in 2015 was encouraging, ARJEL said, as it took account of the fact that unlike last year there were no major sporting events this summer, which revealed that sports betting had gained a cultural foothold in the country.
Football and tennis were the main sports players bet on, totalling 82% of all stakes, although stakes placed on tennis accounted for 26% of that total compared with 18% in the previous quarter thanks to the French Open and Wimbledon.
Operators’ quarterly gross profits were up 7% to €63m on 2014, however, pre-bonus net profits, which translate as gross profits minus taxes and VAT, were down 8% to €27.8m.
Including bonus costs, net profits were down 10% to €20.5m on the second quarter of 2014, due to a rise in the payout ratio of 2 points to 81.5%.
Stakes for online horse racing pari mutuel continued to drop during the quarter, 3% to €248m, with gross profits also dropping 3% to €61m compared with the same period last year.
Online poker’s downward trend also carried on during the second quarter of 2015. Site visits were down on 2014, average weekly active player numbers dropped 5%, for cash games it meant a weekly drop of 11% and of 3% for tournament players.
Quarterly poker stakes were down 10% to €938m and gross profits were down 2% to 56.3 m€ on the same period Iast year.
source : www.igamingbusiness.com
