EU iGaming weekly: Betfred shop closures, FRA evidence delay, FDJ UNITED’s H1 loss
Britain’s online tax rise starts costing retail jobs, the Gambling Commission holds back its financial risk assessment (FRA) evidence until the autumn, and half-year results pull two lottery-led operators in opposite directions.
This week at a glance
- Betfred opens a consultation on closing 132 shops and cutting more than 600 jobs from September.
- The Gambling Commission will publish its financial risk assessment evidence in the autumn.
- The Responsible Gambling Council’s first Sector Signals report tracks the move to mandatory player protection.
- FDJ UNITED swings to a €16 million half-year loss after tax rises and a €135 million impairment.
- Lottomatica posts €465.3 million in adjusted EBITDA as online reaches 44% of group revenue.
Five biggest stories of the week
1. Betfred to close 132 shops
Betfred confirmed on 31 July 2026 that it has opened a consultation on closing 132 betting shops and cutting more than 600 roles from September. That is more than a tenth of its estate and would leave the bookmaker with around 1,100 shops. It employs around 7,500 people in total.
Chief executive Joanne Whittaker said the decision was taken with ‘deep regret’ and attributed it to a combination of pressures rather than gambling taxes alone: higher employer National Insurance contributions, wage inflation, tax increases, and wider economic uncertainty.
Betfred is not alone. Flutter Entertainment confirmed in October 2025 that Paddy Power would close 57 shops across the UK and Ireland, and Evoke told investors in January that it had responded to the duty changes through closures and cost cuts.
2. Gambling Commission holds back FRA evidence until autumn
Sarah Gardner, acting chief executive of the Gambling Commission, told the Culture, Media and Sport Committee in a letter dated 22 July 2026 that the dataset, evidence base, and methodology behind FRAs will be published alongside the regulator’s consultation response in the autumn. Some material will be aggregated or summarised where it is commercially sensitive.
Gardner said the delay comes down to the implementation timetable: the response should be shaped by the implementation groups forming over the summer, which bring together gambling businesses and credit reference agencies. She accepted that announcing the decision ahead of the full response sits ‘outside our normal process’.
On scope, fewer than the top 3% of customers will need an FRA, and 97% of those assessments are expected to be frictionless, against the 80% expectation set out in the 2023 Gambling Act Review white paper.
Racing bodies will not sit on the implementation groups, though the British Horseracing Authority has accepted an offer to meet.
3. RGC tracks the move to mandatory safeguards
The Responsible Gambling Council published Evolving Expectations on 27 July 2026, the first of six Sector Signals reports. Drawing on the United Kingdom, Norway, Sweden, and Victoria, Australia, it identifies four areas where regulatory expectations are converging: age-specific requirements, financial and credit limits, carded play and pre-commitment, and operator training.
The examples are concrete. Britain’s statutory gambling levy raised just under £120 million in its first year, allocated 50% to treatment, 30% to prevention, and 20% to research. Sweden’s expanded credit prohibition, which RGC calls the first comprehensive ban of its kind in the EU, took effect on 1 May 2026. Victoria’s carded play trial began in September 2025 across all 43 gaming machine venues in three council areas.
RGC’s closing argument is about evidence rather than tools. Regulators are looking at behavioural impact, and default or mandatory settings are taking precedence over opt-in ones. Five further reports follow through 2027.
4. FDJ UNITED swings to a half-year loss
FDJ UNITED reported on 29 July 2026 that group revenue fell 4.5% to €1,782 million in the first half of the year, with net income of -€16 million against €136 million a year earlier. Recurring EBITDA was down 8.4% at €404 million, and adjusted net profit, which excludes one-off charges, fell 19.0% to €180 million.
Gaming tax increases in France, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Romania cost €52 million, reducing revenue growth by three points. Revenue at the French lottery and retail sports betting division fell 3.9% to €1,240 million, hit by fewer and smaller Euromillions jackpots and, in the second quarter, heatwaves that cut point-of-sale traffic. Online gross gaming revenue held broadly flat at €702 million while online revenue fell 7.4% to €431 million.
The group now targets a low single-digit revenue decline for 2026 and has opened a review of the markets within its online division and of non-core assets.
5. Lottomatica’s online business reaches 44% of revenue
Lottomatica Group published first-half results on 28 July 2026, showing revenue up 5% to €1,180.6 million and adjusted EBITDA up 10% to €465.3 million, at a 39.4% margin.
Online did the work. Revenue there rose 13% to €525.1 million, or 44% of the group total, with segment adjusted EBITDA up 21% to €303.9 million and a margin of 57.9%.
Both retail-led segments went backwards. Sports Franchise revenue fell 1% to €275.4 million on less favourable payouts, and Gaming Franchise fell 2% to €380.0 million.
Total online market share was 31.6% in the second quarter, 1.1 percentage points above Q2 2025. Reported net profit reached €116.0 million against €68.2 million, helped by finance expenses falling to €75.7 million.
The board expects full-year adjusted EBITDA at the top end of its €940–980 million guidance range.
What to watch next week
Betfred’s consultation is now running, with closures due from September, and the open question is which operator moves next on its retail estate. The Gambling Commission’s implementation groups form over the summer, with the consultation response and its supporting data due in the autumn. FDJ UNITED’s review of its online markets and non-core assets has begun, and third-quarter revenue follows on 21 October 2026.
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