Banijay Gaming has reported revenue of €433.1m (£376m) for the first quarter of 2026, with the Europe- and Africa-facing operator’s poker and online casino arms soaring more than 25% year on year.
The top-line figure represents a 13.7% increase on Q1 2025, with the company citing “sustained player engagement and strong interest in major sporting events during the quarter” as contributing factors.
Sportsbook revenue made up the majority of the quarterly total, increasing 10.4% year on year (YoY) to €326.5m.
The firm noted that sportsbook performance was “nonetheless affected by adverse results, notably during UEFA Champions League matches, international football friendly and World Cup qualification matches”.
Casino revenue increased 25.4% YoY to €70.2m, while poker revenue amounted to €30.3m, up 28.3% when compared to Q1 2025.
Bosses said that the proprietary poker platform, which launched in Q4 2024, and online casino gains in the Ivory Coast were the main highlights.
Revenue from the operator’s horseracing division also increased during the quarter, rising 11.1% YoY to €6.2m.
The overall revenue increase from the betting and gaming was also supplemented by a 20% growth in unique active players compared to last year.
Adjusted EBITDA for the quarter totalled €96.6m, down 5.4% YoY, leaving an adjusted EBITDA margin of 22.3%. The decline came on the back of the increased tax burden in France, with new levies coming into effect in July 2025.
Excluding the French betting tax hikes, management said divisional adjusted EBITDA would have rose 7.1%, even with the impacted sports betting margin.
Since the end of Q1, Banijay Group has officially completed its acquisition of Germany- and Austria-facing operator Tipico.
The Betclic parent company obtained a 65% stake in Tipico in a deal worth up to €3bn.
The group has stated that the acquisition could drive revenues towards the €10bn mark by the end of 2029.
Part of the deal saw Tipico CEO Axel Hefer step down from his role with the firm after three years.
Commenting on the results, Banijay Group CEO François Riahi said: “We are enjoying a solid start to 2026, supported by strong momentum across our sports betting and gaming activities, as we look ahead to a year marked by major sporting events, important strategic developments and transformative M&A.
“Sports betting and gaming continues to deliver strong growth, driven by ongoing product innovation and a 20% increase in unique active players, the key commercial KPI.
“This demonstrates the strength of our product and customer proposition, and we are well positioned ahead of this summer’s FIFA World Cup.”
Expanding on the potential impact of the World Cup during the company’s earnings call, Riahi added: “The World Cup is a very strong – possibly the strongest – event in Europe. A large part of the games will happen during the afternoon in the Americas, which will be during the evening in Europe.
“We believe that it will be a significant World Cup for us. Of course there will be some games played during the night, but there are more games and more teams.
“We expect it to be a really big event and we expect it to have the same type of impact that the previous World Cups and European Championships had for us.”
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The post Banijay Gaming sees Q1 revenue jump nearly 14% to over €433m first appeared on EGR Intel.
Strong growth in sports betting and in-house poker platform cited as key drivers of growth, with 20% jump in active players also boosting top-line
The post Banijay Gaming sees Q1 revenue jump nearly 14% to over €433m first appeared on EGR Intel.