Operator News
France – PMU unveils ambitious marketing plan following return to growth
By Phil - 17 April 2018
Having reported a net profit of €793m in 2017, French betting operator PMU will be deploying an ambitious marketing plan based on recruitment of customers in this year of the football World Cup.
In the first quarter, 80,000 new accounts have been opened on PMU.fr. A commercial stimulus package is being implemented, aimed at regaining growth momentum in the retail network, but also at racecourses. Internationally, the effort will be on developing new partnerships, with strong ambitions for Africa through the subsidiary PMU Partenaire and for the United Kingdom. Initial agreements have been put in place for the distribution of French races in Chad and with Paddy Power Betfair and William Hill in the UK.
The 2017 net profit for horseracing sector was in line with the budget commitment although again the activity is slightly down in the first quarter of 2018 due to bad weather.
The company said that after the success of the Simple Jackpot, the Jackpot family has been extended with the launch in March of the 2sur4 Jackpot, which has got off to a good start.
Horserace betting activity was up for the first time since 2012. The company recorded a two per cent increase in overall activity to €9.929bnin stakes, for gross betting revenue of €2.437bn (down (0.3 per cent). The development of international betting on French Races has continued, with a 10 per cent increase in stakes to €1.147bnand online activities returned to growth at €1.617bn, accounting for 16 per cent of the total activity.
The company stated: “The year 2017 was marked by the initial fulfilment of the strategic acceleration plan – PMU 2020.1 – and successful launch of several new horseracing products and services, which resulted in beneficial results for betting activity. These results, combined with the performance plan initiated in 2016 and a saving of €21m in operating expenses, made it possible to achieve a net result in line with the budget commitment made at the beginning of the year to the racecourse companies. 2018 will be a year sustainability and profitable growth. After the return to growth in horserace betting in 2017, PMU’s goal is to sustain profitable growth in its activity throughout 2018. The implementation of the PMU 2020.1 plan continues to progress, with at least two new bets and services launched each year.”
After the Simple JACKPOT and the Super 4 were successfully launched in 2017, the 2sur4 JACKPOT has been offered on PMU.fr and in points of sale since March and has gotten off to an excellent start.
With Epiqe Tracking, PMU in association with France Galop, LeTrot and FNCH launched a major innovation at the beginning of the year to enrich the experience of horseracing punters and spectators. This new service, offered through a free application, allows users to take part in races live or in replay, by putting themselves in the place of the jockeys. This tracking app allows users to immerse themselves in the heart of the race in 3D and provides enriched statistics in real time. Regarding services and the digitalization of the customer journey, PMU will launch or preview several innovations in conjunction with the reopening of the ParisLongchamp racecourse.
The Bluetooth bet via the MyPMU app will allow punters at the racecourse to prepare and validate their bets directly on their smartphones. The “MyPMU ParisLongchamp bot”, which allows novice punters to prepare their bets in an interactive and fun way on Facebook Messenger, will also be test-launched on this occasion. Finally, the offline version of the site Hipigo.fr (to learn about betting in a simplified way on a smartphone before validating the bet by QR Code) will be offered exclusively at ParisLongchamp, before being extended to other racecourses and points of sale by the end of the year.
