FDJ United revenue fell 5.6% to €2.58bn in the nine months to 30 September 2026, the French group said on 21 October, as €62m of higher gaming taxes and weaker results in the Netherlands and the UK pushed it to cut its 2026 targets. Gross gaming revenue (GGR) fell 2.8% to €6.26bn.
Stéphane Pallez, Chairwoman and Chief Executive Officer of FDJ United, said in the revenue release to end-September that the performance “reflects factors inherent to the gaming sector”. The company listed fewer and smaller big jackpots, high player winnings on sports bets in the third quarter, lower footfall in French points of sale and tax increases.
FDJ United revenue by business unit
The French lottery and retail sports betting unit, still the largest part of the group, reported GGR of €4.98bn, down 3.5%, and revenue of €1.79bn, down 4.8%. Lottery GGR fell 3.5% to €4.37bn: instant games grew 1.9% while draw games dropped 10.3%. Retail sports betting GGR fell 3.2% to €613m and revenue 4.5% to €297m.
Management told analysts on the 21 October results call that only one draw in the third quarter carried a jackpot above €130m, against nine a year earlier, according to a transcript published by Investing.com. Point-of-sale traffic was down about 10% in both the second and third quarters, and the retail sports betting payout ratio rose more than 400 basis points to close to 80%.
The online betting and gaming unit, built largely on the Kindred business bought in October 2024, reported GGR of €1.01bn, down 0.8%, and revenue of €619m, down 8.2%. Excluding the Netherlands and the UK, where Unibet is the group’s main brand, online GGR rose 5.7% and revenue 0.8%, according to FDJ United.
The tax bill
Of the €62m in extra gaming taxes to the end of September, €28m fell on the French lottery and retail unit and €34m on online, according to the call transcript. FDJ United expects the full-year 2026 impact to exceed €70m.
The increases came in four markets: France in July 2025, Romania in August 2025, the Netherlands in January 2026 and the UK in April 2026. The Dutch gambling tax rose to 37.8% of GGR on 1 January, and the UK’s Remote Gaming Duty on online casino rose to 40% on 1 April. Earlier TGE coverage of gambling taxes is on our tax news page.
Revised 2026 targets
FDJ United now expects a low-single-digit decline in GGR and a mid-single-digit decline in revenue for 2026, with a recurring EBITDA margin of around 23%. It confirmed its target of a rising annual dividend, with a payout of at least 75% of adjusted net profit.
The online unit has a new management team led by Pascal Chaffard, who took over from Nils Andén under executive committee changes announced on 19 February. Chaffard, formerly the group’s Chief Financial Officer, is now Chief Online Betting and Gaming Officer and Group Strategy and Operational Transformation Officer. Andén had overseen the Kindred integration since October 2024.
The team is cutting marketing, loyalty and operating costs and moving the group’s brands onto a single in-house sportsbook platform, which FDJ United plans to have running in most of its markets by the end of 2027. More on the group’s previous results and regulatory issues is on our FDJ United news page.
Next steps
In France, FDJ United plans extra draw-game events in the fourth quarter of 2026, followed in 2027 by relaunches of Euromillions and Loto and a new €10 instant game. A review of its online markets and non-core assets, in particular the Payment and Services unit, will report in early 2027 at the latest, together with a group-wide performance plan.
Source: FDJ United
