FDJ United has pointed to a challenging tax environment after the lottery and gaming giant posted a 1% uptick in Q1 2026 GGR to €2.2bn (£1.9bn).
Net revenue was down 3% year on year (YoY) to €895m as the business cited a €24m hit from tax hikes across its core markets.
The GGR tax rate in the Netherlands, where Unibet has been the historical market leader, jumped from 34.2% to 37.8% on 1 January.
In France, where FDJ holds monopoly rights on lottery and retail sports betting, taxes also rose.
Remote gaming duty in the UK hit 40% on 1 April, up from 21%, while GGR tax rate in Romania increased to 30% from 21% last August.
Breaking performance down by business unit, the French lottery and retail sports betting arm reported stable GGR of €1.7bn and a 2% downturn in revenue to €627m.
Bosses said this was due to customer-friendly sports betting results and “fewer long cycles for draw games”.
Lottery took the lion’s share of GGR (€1.5bn) in the segment, with new taxes leading to a €13m drag.
There were positives in the group’s instant win games offering, with GGR up 3.4%, as well as digital lottery engagement.
The online betting and gaming arm, which houses Kindred Group and its various brands that were acquired in late 2024, was impacted to the tune of €9m by the new tax rates.
GGR was down 1% YoY to €342m while revenue slipped 8% to €213m, with the UK and the Netherlands reporting significant declines.
In the UK, revenue slipped 24.1%, while in the Netherlands the metric declined 19.9%.
Bosses said excluding those two markets, revenue was down 1.1% on Q1 2025, thanks to “good performance” in France and Sweden. Active customers were up 3%.
“The new management team is fully committed to implementing the action plans designed to gradually restore the business unit’s performance, particularly in the UK and the Netherlands,” FDJ said.
The division will be led by former CFO Pascal Chaffard after he stepped in to replace Nils Andén earlier this year.
Chaffard has also taken on a new role as group strategy and operational transformation officer.
FDJ announced Chaffard will be replaced as CFO by IPSOS finance boss Dan Lévy.
A previous French government economist, Lévy spent more than 12 years with banking group Société Générale.
The international lottery arm, which is effectively the Premier Lotteries Ireland brand, reported a 7% YoY jump in revenue to €41m.
However, FDJ did note there was an “exceptional number of Lotto jackpot winners” during the reporting period.
The group’s payments division saw revenue slide 7.2% to €14m as it continues to optimise operations.
The operator has now updated its full-year 2026 guidance, with management expecting a “slight increase in GGR and a slight decline in revenue”.
This is based on a return to GGR growth in H2. A recurring EBITDA margin of between 23% and 24% has also been forecast.
Stéphane Pallez, FDJ United CEO and chair, said: “In an environment still affected by the impact of tax increases and tighter regulations on gaming, the group is stepping up its efforts in operational efficiency, synergies and financial discipline with the aim of returning to sustainable, value-creating growth from the second half of the year onwards, for the benefit of all its stakeholders.”
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The post FDJ United reports UK and Netherlands revenue slumps in Q1 first appeared on EGR Intel.
French operator highlights tough tax conditions in core markets, as it pledges to arrest online sports betting and gaming slide with new management team in place
The post FDJ United reports UK and Netherlands revenue slumps in Q1 first appeared on EGR Intel.