TLDR
- FDJ United will review its online betting and gaming business, which could lead to exits from some markets.
- The company’s first half 2026 results showed falling revenue and profit due to higher gambling taxes.
- EBITDA dropped to €404 million and adjusted net profit fell 19% to €180 million.
- The Netherlands and UK markets face the heaviest tax pressure, though the UK may avoid an exit.
- FDJ Ventures invested in ProphetX, a US prediction market platform that gained federal approval in 2026.
FDJ United is taking a close look at its online betting and gaming business. The gambling company said it may pull out of some markets and sell parts of the unit.
The decision came alongside the release of FDJ United’s results for the first half of 2026. The numbers showed lower revenue and shrinking profit across the group.
CEO Stéphane Pallez said higher taxes hurt the company’s performance. She said the group felt the impact of tax increases in several markets where it operates.
Gross gaming revenue fell 1.3% compared to the same period last year. Net revenue dropped even further, down 4.5%, because of the higher tax bills.
EBITDA fell from €441 million in the first half of 2025 to €404 million this year. Adjusted net profit dropped 19%, going from €222 million to €180 million.
Pallez also pointed to heat waves in France as a factor. She said the hot weather kept people away from betting shops and points of sale.
UK and Netherlands Under Review
FDJ United’s review will focus on the online business it picked up from Kindred Group. That deal, worth €2.45 billion, closed in late 2024 and brought brands like Unibet and 32Red into the company.
Two years later, FDJ is looking closely at whether those operations still make sense. The online unit took on the heaviest tax load out of all the company’s businesses.
Without the UK and Netherlands numbers, gross gaming revenue would have risen 6.6%. Net revenue would have grown slightly too, up 0.6%.
But when taxes from France, the UK, the Netherlands, and Romania are added in, the picture changes. Those taxes totaled about €24 million and pulled net revenue down 7.4% to €431 million.
The Netherlands has been a weak spot. Gross gaming revenue there fell 15% in the first quarter, though the drop slowed to 4.1% in the second quarter.
In the UK, tax rates have jumped sharply. Remote gaming duty rose from 21% to 40% in April 2026, and remote betting tax will climb from 15% to 25% in 2027.
Even so, FDJ United suggested the UK is not on the list of markets it plans to leave. The company said an ongoing plan should start showing results by the end of 2026.
A Move Into Prediction Markets
While reviewing its European business, FDJ United is also expanding somewhere new. Through FDJ Ventures, the company invested in ProphetX, a prediction market platform based in the United States.
ProphetX raised $35 million in new funding this week. FDJ Ventures took part in the round, though the exact amount it invested was not shared.
ProphetX received approval from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission in June 2026. It was first registered as a derivatives clearing organization, then approved as a contract market the next day.
That approval lets ProphetX list event contracts, including ones tied to sports, under federal rules. This is different from the state by state licensing that regular sportsbooks must follow in the US.
For FDJ United, the investment gives it a foothold in a new US market as its European business faces tax pressure. The company has not said how much money it put into ProphetX or what its next steps will be.
