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France – Privatisation of the FDJ could be postponed until 2020

By - 21 January 2019

The privatisation of the Française des Jeux is unlikely to take place this year with a more likely possibility being early 2020, according to the chain of economic information BFM Business.

Even if the decision to privatise part of the lottery operator is not called into question, the adoption of the PACT Act will be later than originally planned.

The Ministry of Economy ensures that the final vote on the privatisation should take place in the spring. But before, “the law must incorporate changes to certain taxes for businesses.

The decline in the stock market value of the company is also a concern. It has lost 15 per cent of its value over the last six months. The new timetable envisaged by Bercy would propose launching tenders early next year to relaunch the operator by the end of 2020.

FDJ generated an increase of 4.4 per cent year-on-year in amounts bet by players in 2018. The total amount of money bet with the company increased to €15.8bn driven by a 21 per cent increase in sports betting to €3bn for the year. The 2018 Fifa World Cup, won by France, generated €333m bets, marking an increase of 75 per cent from the 2014 tournament. The lottery saw a 1.1 per cent increase to €12.8bn boosted by a 3.2 per cent increase in instant win game to €7.7bn. This offset a 1.9 per cent downturn with draw-based game sales to €5.1bn.
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FDJ chairman and chief executive Stéphane Pallez said: “The continued growth in player stakes reflects the good execution of our FDJ 2020 strategy around areas such as innovation and digital, enhancing the appeal of our games and distribution channels. 2018 has been characterised by numerous successes, notably Mission Patrimoine games, illustrating FDJ’s redistribution model. These results underpin our ambition to anticipate changes in the gaming and entertainment sector to increase the Group’s leadership with richer and innovative gaming experiences.”

Online increased by 12 per cent with digital sales increasing by 45.5 per cent to €2.4bn in 2018. The FDJ now has 1.9m registered digital clients by the end of the year.

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