FDJ United has opened a review of its online betting and gaming arm and of non-core assets after gambling tax increases across Europe weighed on first-half results. The company is considering exits from parts of its online markets and the sale of businesses outside its core operations.
Group GGR fell 1.3% year on year and net revenue 4.5%. EBITDA came in at €404 million against €441 million a year earlier, and adjusted net profit dropped 19% to €180 million. President and CEO Stéphane Pallez pointed to tax changes and an abnormal heatwave in France, which cut traffic at retail outlets.
The online segment, acquired with Kindred Group for €2.45 billion in October 2024, took the hardest hit. It covers operations in the UK, the Netherlands, the Nordics, Italy, Australia and Ontario under the Unibet brand. Tax changes in France, the UK, the Netherlands and Romania removed almost €24 million of revenue and pushed the segment's net revenue down 7.4% to €431 million. Stripping out the UK and the Netherlands, online GGR grew 6.6%.
In the Netherlands, the GGR decline slowed from 15% in the first quarter to 4.1% in the second. In the UK, FDJ expects the results of its recovery plan by the end of 2026, even as remote gaming duty rises from 21% to 40% in April 2026 and the remote betting rate goes from 15% to 25% in 2027. No immediate exits from either jurisdiction have been announced. The review also covers payment assets (Aleda, Bimedia and L'Addition), which generated €30 million of revenue and a €3 million EBITDA loss. Lottery and retail betting brought in €3.43 billion and €1.24 billion respectively.
