FRENCH GAMBLING MONOPOLY TURNOVER FALLS

8 February 2008

First drop in 15 years reported


The troublesome French government gambling monopoly Francaise des Jeux has admitted to a worrying drop of 1.8 percent - the first in fifteen years - in annual turnover.

In commenting on the slip, Chief executive Christophe Blanchard-Dignac hinted at his ambitions in a liberalised French online market, saying that FdeJ is to broaden its product range and create a multimedia arm to develop interactive games in anticipation of the likely opening of the French market.

Francaise des Jeux has been at the root of several French legal actions against executives from companies based in other EU member countries. The company, which turns over tens of millions of Euros every year employs almost 900 people and is 72 percent owned by the government. Other shareholders include Lottery Issuers (20 percent) Agents (3 percent) and employees (5 percent).

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