French national lottery operator Française des Jeux (FDJ) has increased its full-year revenue and earnings forecasts after reporting an 11.9% year-on-year rise in revenue in the third quarter of its 2022 financial year.
The operator reported growth across both online and land-based channels during the three months to 30 September but highlighted the performance of its retail point-of-sale division in particular.
Point-of-sale stakes in Q3 were up 6.0% year-on-year to €4.30m (£3.72bn/$4.21bn), which FDJ said reflected the network’s return to normal following the pandemic and the “intrinsic momentum” of its games.
FDJ chairwoman and chief executive Stéphane Pallez also noted growth within the digital business, with stakes rising 35.0% to €643.0m, representing 13.0% of total stakes during the quarter.
“The strong momentum recorded by the group at the beginning of the year continued into the third quarter,” Pallez said. “We are particularly pleased with the return of our point-of-sale network to a healthy business dynamic, with quarterly stakes up by 6%.
“Our digital business continues to attract a growing number of players, almost five million. The good performance expected for the full year reflects the relevance of our strategy, which is based on these two distribution channels, and confirms our long-term responsible growth model.”
Lottery games remained by far the primary source of revenue for FDJ in Q3, with this part of the business generating €478.0m in revenue, up 14.0% on last year.
Draw games stakes were up 17.0% to €1.63bn, helped by a particularly large number of high EuroMillions jackpots above €75.0m during the period. Instant games stakes also increased by 7.0% to €2.38bn, which FDJ put down to the success of marketing initiatives and the launch of new games.
In terms of sports wagering, revenue remained stable at €97.0m, while stakes increased by 9.0% year-on-year. FDJ also noted that revenue from other activities jumped 500.0% from €3.0m to €18.0m but did not go into further detail.
Looking ahead to the remainder of the year, FDJ said that as its performance during Q3 was better than expected, and following growth in the first half, it can increase its forecasts for the full-year.
FDJ also said it expects its sports betting business to benefit from the 2022 Fifa World Cup, which this year will take place during November and December, rather than its traditional summer dates due to hot weather in host nation Qatar.
As such, revenue for the full year is now expected to be 8.0% higher than in 2021, ahead of an initial 5.0% forecast growth. In addition, earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation is likely to reach 24.0%, up from early guidance of 23.5%.
Meanwhile, Switzerland’s Loterie Romande has selected FDJ Gaming Solutions to port all of its interactive games and provide exclusive online lottery content through its Interactive Factory platform.
Interactive Factory is an open platform that delivers content as a service and supports multiple lottery game logics.
