Wire EMEA
Strong Q2 Limits FDJ Decline
La Française des Jeux (FDJ) has reported a 6.8 per cent decline in annual bets amounting to just under €16bn, with turnover down 6.3 per cent to €1.92bn.
“2020 has been an unprecedented and contrasting year, during which FDJ has shown resilience and solidarity,” Stéphane Pallez, President and CEO of the FDJ.
FRANCE OPERATIONS
France - Casino sector plunges in France The French casino sector fell by 24.3 per cent between November 2019 and October 2020, according to figures published by the Central Service of Races and Games of the Ministry of 'Interior.
With GGR coming in at €1,831m, compared to €2,418m in 2018/2019, the pandemic took the French casino industry back to a similar revenue earned in 2012/2013. Whilst the end of 2019 generated a decent enough year-on-year improvement of seven per cent, the closures forced by the pandemic saw the overall attendance fall by 26.59 per cent, with 24,572,229 admissions made.
Only three casinos, all with special circumstances, showed any improvement over the year with venues in Lectour, owned by Arévian, which was still in its launch period during the previous year’s results, as were the casinos in Amélie les Bains or Megève, owned by Casigrangi.
UK - Westbury promoted Digitain has appointed Simon Westbury to the new position of Chief Business Officer. For Digitain, Harutyun Vardanyan, COO, said, “Simon has successfully led the
Digitain Sales team since January 2020, generating significant growth and adding great value to our business. We fully expect even greater things from him and his team in the future.”
Bulgaria - EGT appoint Popova Nadia Popova takes over the position of Chief Revenue Officer and Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Euro Games Technology. Ms. Popova will be
responsible for the revenue generation processes, driving better integration and alignment between all earnings-related functions, including marketing, sales, customer success and revenue management for the business verticals of EGT. Nadia Popova has been part of Euro Games Technology for 10 years, beginning her carrier at the company in 2011.
Romania - MaxBet Group CEO MaxBet, the multi-national Central and Eastern European gaming operator, has announced the promotion of Darko Zhivanov to the position of CEO of the Group.
Mr. Zhivanov has spent 20 years with MaxBet, most recently in the roles of Vice President and Strategic Adviser to the CEO. A statement from MaxBet reads: “We thank Mr. Zhivanov for his knowlege and experience for several years as a member of the top management team at MaxBet Group. We look forward to new plans, projects and successes under the leadership of Director Zhivanov.
P8 WIRE / PULSE / INSIGHT / REPORTS
Despite a three per cent rise in bets during the second half of 2020, La Française des Jeux (FDJ) has reported a 6.8 per cent decline in annual bets amounting to just under €16bn, with turnover down 6.3 per cent to €1.92bn.
Drawing games stakes grew by six per cent to €3.2bn. Amigo fell by more than 30 per cent and instant games stakes were down six per cent to €7.7bn affected by the impact of the health crisis on point-of-sale traffic. In total, lottery stakes fell six per cent to €12.7bn.
Sports betting limited its decline to 10 per cent over the year to €3.2bn, thanks to growth of more than 20 per cent in the second half of the year compared to the second half of 2019, after a decline of nearly 40 per cent in the first six months.
Stakes in the network of points of sale were stable in the second half of the year, after falling by more than 20 per cent between January and July. FDJ accompanied and supported its distribution network, maintained at nearly 30,000 points of sale. Digital stakes continued to grow strongly with annual growth of nearly 40 per cent driven by the digital lottery, up by more than 60 per cent to over €1.1bn.
Turnover fell by six per cent to €1.9m. EBITDA came in at €427m, representing an EBITDA
margin on sales of 22.2 per cent. EBITDA was preserved thanks to the implementation of a savings plan of more than €80m. Te FDJ board of directors will propose to the general meeting on June 16 a dividend of 80 per cent of consolidated net income, as the Group committed to when it was floated on the stock market. Te dividend of 0.90 euros per share will be paid on June 23.
Te FDJ group has said it "is pursuing its strategy to offer an ever more global gaming experience and to strengthen its position as the leader in the French gambling market. With a solid and resilient model, it is confident in its medium- term prospects, which combine growth and a high level of profitability."
For 2021, the operator says uncertainties persist; nevertheless, for the lottery, many launches and relaunches of instant games are planned (for example a new income game launched at the start of the year, 'Objectif Maison'; the fourth edition of Mission Patrimoine; or a third phygital game) , while more than ten events around boosted Loto and Euromillions jackpots will punctuate the year for the draw.
“2020 has been an unprecedented and contrasting year, during which FDJ has shown resilience and solidarity," explained Stéphane Pallez, President and CEO of the FDJ.
Austria Casinos Austria defends position on advertising
Te Austrian Association for Betting and Gambling (OVWG) has presented reports that claim the Casinos Austria group is conducting excessive advertising, a point the group rejects.
Te study by journalism professor Jörg Matthes from the University of Vienna, examined the impact of Casinos Austria/lottery advertising on consumers from 2009 to 2017; a follow-up study examined the 2018/19 period. In the study, Matthes concludes that current ad activities create a strong incentive to gamble through various strategies. Tis influences recipients – regardless of whether they regularly participate in gambling or not – in their attitudes and intentions to act and entices them to gamble. It highlighted that there were two incentives created by advertising that had a strong
effect including advertising that 'Gambling makes you happy' and 'Gambling makes you rich.'
Casinos Austria responded: "Te advertising and marketing expenses of Casinos Austria AG and the Austrian Lotteries Group fell by 14.22 per cent between 2005 and 2019. Our group, as the only licensed online gaming provider in Austria, is obliged to provide adequate advertising in order to make a contribution to channelling gaming into a legal offering. Despite numerous expert reports, all Austrian supreme courts have established that both the Austrian legal situation and the practice of the concessionaires comply with the requirements of EU law. In countless legal proceedings, it is the online gaming providers without a license who violate the law."
France
Te town of Tonon-les-Bains in the Haute-Savoie region in eastern France could have a casino in the coming years, having been home to one between 1901 and 1929. Te new mayor of the town Christophe Arminjon said: “Te opening of a casino in Tonon is part of integral part of our development plan to strengthen the attractiveness of the city, in particular in connection with lake transport."
He said that the former mayor of Evian Marc Francina has previously 'done a lot to ensure that Tonon does not have a casino' having long sat on the Commission national consultative body responsible for examining opening requests.
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