FDJ United has opened a review of its online betting and gaming business and said it may withdraw from some markets and sell parts of the unit, less than two years after completing the €2.45bn acquisition of Kindred Group.
The review was announced alongside first-half 2026 results. Group gross gaming revenue (GGR) fell 1.3% to €4.3bn and revenue fell 4.5% to €1.78bn. Recurring EBITDA dropped 8.4% to €404m from €441m a year earlier, cutting the margin to 22.7% from 23.6%. Adjusted net profit fell 19% to €180m from €222m, and the group posted a net loss of €16m for the period.
FDJ attributed €52m of the revenue decline to gaming tax increases in France, the UK, the Netherlands and Romania. It also said exceptional heatwaves reduced footfall at points of sale in France.
Stéphane Pallez, chairwoman and chief executive of FDJ United, said:
“The group’s performance in the first half of the year continued to be impacted by increased taxes.”
Tax rises land hardest on the online unit
Online betting and gaming GGR was broadly stable at €702m in the half, but revenue in the unit fell 7.4% to €431m. Tax increases in France, the UK, the Netherlands and Romania accounted for close to €24m of that decline.
Excluding the Netherlands and the UK, the unit grew: GGR rose 6.6% and revenue rose 0.6%, with France and Scandinavia carrying the performance. The two problem markets are both regulatory.
In the UK, remote gaming duty rose from 21% to 40% in April 2026, and remote general betting duty is due to rise from 15% to 25% in April 2027. The scale of that change has forced guidance revisions across the sector, including at Bally’s and Intralot, and follows a period in which remote casino drove most UK online growth.
The Dutch business improved through the half. GGR was down 15% year on year in the first quarter and down 4.1% in the second.
What the review covers
The review applies to the online betting and gaming business unit built around Kindred, which holds licences in the UK, the Netherlands, Scandinavia, Italy and other European and international markets, and runs brands including Unibet and 32Red. Unibet also operates in Ontario and Australia.
FDJ said it is reconsidering which jurisdictions it serves as part of an effort to allocate resources differently, and that online betting and gaming is the area where tax rises hit revenue hardest. The company completed the Kindred takeover in October 2024, joining the French lottery operator’s retail base with a multi-market online portfolio.
Non-core assets also in scope
The review extends beyond gaming licences. FDJ named Aleda, Bimedia and L’Addition, all in its payments and services business unit, as possible disposal candidates. That unit generated €30m of revenue in the half and an EBITDA loss of €3m, against group revenue of €1.78bn.
Targets held despite the drop
FDJ said its action plan, launched in 2025, should start producing results by the end of 2026. It confirmed full-year targets of stable GGR in both the French lottery and retail sports betting unit and the online betting and gaming unit, a low single-digit revenue decline, and a recurring EBITDA margin of 23% to 24%.
The company said its new management team is working on the UK and the Netherlands through higher marketing investment and changes to the player experience. FDJ has drawn scrutiny elsewhere in its portfolio this year, including over a Comoros licence held by Relax Gaming.
No timetable for the review has been given, and FDJ has not said which markets are under consideration. The decisions that follow will determine how much of Kindred’s licence footprint survives the deal that created it, and the next UK duty rise arrives in April 2027, before any exit is likely to be complete.
Source: FDJ United
