Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for joining us for the FDJ conference call. I'll now hand over to Mr. Pascal Chaffard, Executive Vice President, Finance and Strategy. Sir, please go ahead.
Thank you. Thank you very much, and good evening, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for connecting to this call. I hope that soon we will be able to see you in the real world, if I may say. You may have read the press release that we distribute after the market close, and also the slideshow I'm going now to comment is available on our investor section of our corporate website. We've been keeping you regularly informed about the group's activity, and today we will review our revenue for the third quarter and the first nine months of 2021. My presentation will be short, something like 10 minutes, to allow maximum time for the Q&A session.
The third quarter commentary will be made versus 2020, which is a valid comparable basis as Q3 2020 was barely not affected by the health crisis in our activity, at least. The nine month commentary will be made versus 2019, which is the more coherent reference point given the health crisis. Now we can move to the next slide. The good momentum of our activity during H1 has continued in Q3. Our full-year outlook is confirmed. It is fully confirmed. Revenue growth continued in Q3 on all activities and all channels, plus 5.1% versus 2020. During the presentation of our half-year results, we informed you that all our point of sale were reopened from the beginning of June with what we call the usual schedule of promotional activities and sporting events.
In fact, we can now consider that our business environment is normalized. We have even a few more point of sale than before the crisis, more than 30,000 point of sale, thanks to opening of new point of sales, while the number of point of sale that have closed is lower than before the crisis. We remain very vigilant, and we will follow in the coming months the evolution of the situation in the context of the end of the government aids. This normalized environment made it possible to confirm the return to growth of the point of sale, with stakes up 2% year-on-year in Q3, and up 5% if we compare it to Q3 of 2019. At the same time, as we emerge from the health crisis, the performance of our online business is stabilizing at a very good level, +20% in Q3.
For online lottery alone, the increase was 28% in the third quarter after 51% in the first half. This growth is very sustainable as it is mostly driven by the increase in the number of players. On the basis of our performance to the end of September and the stability of the health environment that we anticipate, we are confident that we will be able to meet the 2021 objective that we announced on the 29th of July. I will come back to this shortly at the end of my presentation. If we move to the next slide. Those are the key figures. In Q3, revenue amounted to EUR 529 million, growing by, as I said before, 5.1%. The stakes have risen by 3.6%. The evolution of the player payout ratio, which we call the PPO, leads to this difference in performance between revenue and stakes.
In the third quarter, decrease in the PPO compared to the third quarter of 2020 implies a faster increase in revenue. In the cumulative nine-month period compared to the end of September 2019, the increase in the PPO leads to a slightly lower growth in revenue. The variations in the PPO are mainly attributable to sports betting, as you know, whose own PPO and relative weights in total stakes can fluctuate. The nine-month growth in revenues amounts to 7.6% versus 2019. If I give you the figures versus 2020, it would be 19.1% versus 2020. Stakes are up 8.9% versus 2019 and 21.5% versus 2020. If we now look at the third quarter alone, the group's revenue was up 5.1%, as I just mentioned. An increase driven by all activities on the basis of a 3.6% increase in stakes.
Lottery revenue rose by more than 4%, to EUR 418 million. This growth was driven by a 5.6% increase in stakes. Instant games were up 8%, thanks in particular to the fourth edition of Mission Patrimoine, our national heritage games. Draw games also performed well, up 2%, thanks in particular to Loto, which benefited from long cycles with a record jackpot of EUR 26 million in September. Online lottery stakes continue to grow, +28%, and represent 10% of total lottery stakes. This performance is, as I said in the introduction, totally responsible as it is mainly were exclusively driven by the number of players. We have 29% of more players than last year and 28% more stakes. Sports betting revenue rose by 7% to EUR 97 million. While stakes were down slightly on a high 2020 base of comparison.
It's important not to forget that Q3 2020 benefited from the postponement of many sports betting events initially scheduled on Q2, including the Champions League. If we compare Q3 2021 to Q3 2020, sports betting stakes were up by 24%. This exceptionally high volume of stakes in 2020 was accompanied by a high level of PPO, which was not the case this year. The revenue has grown while stakes slightly decreased. It's important to say that it is the case for all the market, not FDJ specialty. It's the same for everybody. I move to the nine months revenue. Over the first month of the year, the cumulative revenue amounted to EUR 1.6 billion, up 7.5% versus the same period in 2019. It's based on barely 9% decrease in stakes.
The increase in lottery revenue, +5%, is in line with the increase in stakes and is mainly driven by instant games. Online lottery stakes rose by more than 42%, totaling EUR 1.1 billion. It is interesting to comment that this represents more than twofold increase, compared to their level in September 2019. EUR 1.1 billion is a level comparable to the one recorded for the whole of 2020 financial year. Online lottery stakes represents, as I said before, more than 10% of the total lottery stakes. The increase in sports betting revenue is strong, +17%, and the increase in stakes is even higher, +25%, due to the increase in PPO in 2021 versus 2019. You cannot see directly on the slide, but I can mention that revenues from other activities totaled EUR 37 million and plus EUR 9 million compared to the end of September 2020.
If we move to next slide and to complete this analysis, we'll now have a look at the detail of stakes by distribution channel. In the third quarter, stakes increased in both our distribution channel, +2% at POS. As I said in the introduction, fully open since the beginning of June. Despite the introduction of the health pass at the beginning of August, which may have had a slight negative effect on footfall at certain POS, but it's not a major effect. POS +2%, as I said, online +20%. This is a good continuation of the momentum, which is stabilizing, as we said earlier. Over the nine months, the first nine months of the year, stakes are also up in both our distribution channel in cumulative terms, +3% at point of sale and +91% online.
At the end of September, online stakes globally represented more than 11% of total stakes. The renewed growth in point of sale is a very good news. However, as I said also in the introduction, we remain attentive to the evolution of our network, especially now that government subsidies will have ended, is going to end or have ended, and that change. Also we will look carefully at the change in behaviors and consumption pattern of our clients. To end this presentation, let's have a look to our confirmed 2021 outlook. All these elements have developed our nine months revenue performance and a stabilized health context allow us to confirm our full-year guidance, i.e. a revenue of EUR 2.2 billion based on a total stakes of around EUR 18.8 billion and an EBITDA margin of at least 22%.
Thank you for your attention, and now I'm ready to answer your question.
Thank you, sir. Ladies and gentlemen, if you wish to ask a question you may press 01 on your telephone keypad. It's zero one on your telephone keypad. We have 1 first question from Mr. Jaafar Mestari from Exane BNP Paribas. Sir, go ahead.
Hi. Good evening, everyone. I've got a couple, please. Firstly, just on the marketing spend, your guidance implies lower margins in H2, and a big part of that is marketing OpEx. I'm just curious whether those marketing investments are done because Q3 was the quarter where a big chunk of those were planned, and therefore do you have visibility on that? Is your guidance still based on further future planned marketing investments and could have upside? I've got a couple of questions on long-term topics, if that's okay.
Okay. For the first topic, yes, we are doing what we have said we will do in the second part of the year. We invest more in marketing and especially in online lottery to assure that the momentum that we have on online lottery will be the momentum of the next years also. We are working on this, we can confirm that we will do what we said about those investments in marketing, especially online, during the second half of the year.
Thanks. Just one on regulation, if you could just update us. There's obviously the European Commission inquiry into license conditions. Do we know where this has progressed in terms of the French state submitting their initial answer? Separately, the ANJ sounds unimpressed with the aggressive advertising during the Euro championships, may introduce limitations. Do you think it's positive for you because it's the other guys who are doing the bad marketing? Do you think it's negative because in the end, your own growth also relies on overall player recruitment?
Okay. If I take your first point, which is related to the inquiry of the Commission. We are waiting for the publication of the complete decision to open this inquiry, which we think will occur in the next future weeks. There is no news flow about this question. As we know, the French state is preparing its answer to the European Commission. This answer is not yet ended. It will be ended also in the coming weeks. It will also, at some point, I don't know when exactly, because it has to be confidentialized. The answer of the French state will also be published at some point. In the coming weeks, first, you will have the long length form of the notification of the beginning of the in-depth inquiry, and then you will have another news flow with the first answer of the French government.
All that will be done in the coming weeks or months. As we said on the end of July, nothing has changed between now and end of July. We anticipate that all those discussions will take some time, and we don't anticipate that any decision will be taken before the second half of 2022. We will have to wait a little bit to have some new things. We have not changed our mind since the end of July, so we think that we have a really good.
Strong case.
Yes, it's a strong case for us. We have done the work very professionally to calculate the equalization payment. If I remember you, the point is whether the equalization payment is appropriate or not. It's not other things. It's not an inquiry related to X to the right. It's an inquiry just related to the amount of the equalization payment. To remind you all those things, this amount has been calculated by the CPT, which is an administrative independent authority. It has been calculated considering all the good practice, French and European practices to do so. We think we have a strong case, but we will have to demonstrate it to the Commission in the coming months.
Thank you.
Yes. Second point of your question. The ANJ, our regulation. It's right to say that the ANJ has open discussions about the advertisement in sports betting, and that ANJ was not the only one to think that it has been too far, the advertisement during the European Championship. To be very clear, FDJ is okay to say that it has been too far. We have not been among those that crossed the yellow line, but some of our competitors crossed the yellow line. For example, letting think to the customers that we can earn our life, earn money by playing sports betting. We will never advertise letting think that sports betting is a way to earn our money. Sports betting must be asked to be a hobby, a game. It's not a way to earn money. This is one of the points.
One other point that has been said by the ANJ, and it's also right, that those commercials are focusing on very young public, which could be a difficult point. If you look at the commercials of FDJ, we have good practices, not showing people under 25 years old. We are not also in this trend to focus on very young people. Globally, we think that to regulate more clearly the commercial, the advertisement on sports betting is a good thing for us because as we have better practices than the market, the market will be at our level, and will not be alone to have such good practices. What will happen from now is, next week on Monday, there is a meeting between operators and ANJ in Bordeaux to talk about that. We will propose some measures to ANJ by the end of October.
If I well remember, ANJ will decide which measures they will take by the end of the year.
Okay. Thank you for the update.
Thank you, sir. Next question is from Mr. James Henry from TD. Sir, go ahead.
Good evening. Thanks for taking my questions. Two from me, please. First, on sports betting, can you remind us whether Q4 2020 was also flattered by catch-up on sporting events, or is it more of a fair basis of comparison going forward? Based on your current run rate, do you think you will be returning to growth in sports betting in the fourth quarter? The second question is, can you just remind us where you are on the launch of poker for the business, please? If it hasn't launched already, when that might launch? Thank you.
Yeah. On sports betting, to be clear, we are yet back to growth. If you see our Q3, we have a growth in revenue. We have a slight decline in stakes, but we have a growth in revenue by something like 7%. The point is concentrated on the month of August 2020. August is usually quite empty month regarding sports betting. In 2020, it was a very busy month as the Champions League finals were organized in Portugal. If we look at the figures month by month, the only month that we have a decline in stakes is August. We are back to growth in September, and we think that we will see a growth by the fourth quarter of 2020. It's really not a change on the trend on the sports betting. It's just a conjunctural thing with the basis of comparison in August.
If you see the communication of other sports betting operators like, for example, Entain, they also have this August thing.
Highlight in their communication. Really no worry for us on sports betting, just a question of basis of comparison on August 2020. Q4 will be clean. Yes. Q4 will be clean, and Q4 will be with growth.
Great. Thank you.
Both stakes and revenue. Your second question was about poker and when we will launch poker. We will do it, but I will not tell you exactly when. We are working on it. When we will be ready, we will announce a schedule. What I can confirm is what Stéphane Pallez has said some months ago, is that we are working on that because we think that this is important to be exposed to both poker and sports betting for the resilience of our activity in the competitive online games.
Okay. Very good. Thank you.
Thank you, sir. Next question is from Mr. Ed Young from Morgan Stanley. Go ahead.
Thank you. Can you hear me?
Yes, clearly.
Thank you for taking my question. Just one. Two you've already answered. You mentioned very clearly about how you feel about the advertising environment operators being too aggressive. Combine that maybe a little bit with your last question on how you see your competitive position. Does it make you more reticent to make an acquisition in the sports betting environment if many of the leading operators being more aggressive on advertising, maybe more of their revenue is skewed to the cohorts they've got through those methods? Are you the sort of an earnings quality risk? Is that something that makes you more reticent, or the kind of gains you can make by acquiring a more scale operator kind of outweigh that? Is there anything that's changed towards the pretty clear desire you've stated over the years to scale up your operation in.
Clearly, it does not change our mind on the attractiveness of operators on the sports betting area. What we want, and my comment was about that, is that the rules are the same for every operator. We really think that some operators have crossed the yellow line, and the conclusion of that is that ANJ has to work about advertisement. If nobody else would have crossed the yellow line, maybe ANJ would not have been obliged to work on this. At the end of the day, we will all have the same rules, and we will use all the rules that are possible. We do think that for the sustainability of this activity in the future, we should have rules that are really sustainable. I think that in other countries, the same type of discussion is also opened.
I think that a large number of operators now think that they should behave really correctly, because this is the only way to sustain growth on the medium term. If the behavior of the operators is too much, what we will have is a regulation backlash, and we don't want that. For the sustainability of this activity, a good behavior is not just good for ethical reasons, but it's good also for economical reasons. There is no difference for me. On an economical point of view, this is good not to go too far.
Thank you.
Thank you, sir. We have no other questions. Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to remind you that if you wish to ask a question, you may press 01 on the telephone keypad. We have another question from Mr. Alexandre Gérard from CIC. Sir, go ahead.
Yes, good evening, Pascal, and thank you.
Good evening.
Good evening. Thank you for taking my questions. A few questions on my side. Just to come back to sports betting, how do you see yourself in the industry right now? Are you progressing? Are you still far away from the leaders? You used to tell us that you were more in the second tier of the industry. Are you, despite all that marketing aggressiveness from competitors, are you progressing? First question. Second question, still on sports betting, you are posting a 24.6% increase in stakes over the first 9 months, 2021 versus 2019. Can we have a vague idea of how this splits between offline and online? My last question relates to the pipeline of new games that could be launched in the coming weeks or months and that could boost your revenues. Can we know more on that side? Thank you, Pascal.
I take your first question about the sports betting. Are we progressing in this market or not? We think that we are progressing, but it's not very easy to know in which number of progress it corresponds, because the ANJ, our regulator, has not published any figures since the beginning of the year. We don't have the half year figures, neither the Q3 figures to date. We just have had the figures from the European Championship, and we have seen that our market share has risen versus what it was before during this European Championship. We think that we are consolidating our position and we are progressing, but still, we don't have all the figures to be very sure about that. We don't think that the aggressiveness of the communication of other has really an impact on their market share.
We think that this is a large number of points that has to be taken into account to see if the position is growing or not. We don't think this is just that that will be the key. Your second question was about the increase in stakes of sports betting between 2021 and 2019, and to have the split between online and offline. What I can say is that the online sports betting is growing two to three times faster than the offline sports betting. This is, I think, fair to say that. The two are growing, but really the online sports betting is growing faster, and it's not a surprise. It's quite normal, two to three times faster than the sports betting offline.
All right, thank you. Maybe just one last question on my side, if I may. On the M&A side, not particularly in sports betting, are there any assets which are up for grabs at the moment, maybe in technology?
Yeah. Just not to forget your third question, and I will take the fourth after that.
Yeah. Sorry, go ahead.
The question was about the pipeline of new games. This is quite a traditional pipeline. We have launched a new instant game at the beginning of October. At the beginning of November, we launched a new FDJ game, which is, Take It or Leave It. I think this is the correct translation in English. We'll have a new game also for the end of the year and also some super mega jackpot, as we call them, of EuroMillions. They are very important because those mega jackpots begin at EUR 130 million and makes it more probable that we have a long cycle. This is the case today because we have a long cycle, and we have beaten the record of a EUR 210 million jackpot that has been reached in February. Now we are at EUR 220 million, and this is rolling also on Friday.
Quite a traditional pipe on our new game, and we also launch every two weeks, something like that, a new game on the online. If I come to the M&A assets, yes, we are working on M&A. We have also structure an M&A team, hiring some new people. We also have a new head of M&A and IR inside of FDJ. We are working, we are looking at all the areas that we have already disclosed. One area is the sports betting and especially sports betting online. Another area is to improve our adjacent activities. This could be B2B international. This means technology-driven B2B international. This could be payments and services, and this is also quite technologic, if we look at the asset that can be interesting in this area. The third adjacent activity is entertainment, and also it could be some technological assets.
We are looking at various type of thing. I've nothing to comment, especially today, on which we could work.
All right. Thank you.
Thank you, sir. Next question is from Madame Giorgietta Gorgia from Bank of America. Please go ahead.
Hi, it's Kiranjot here from Bank of America. Just one question from me. In terms of stickiness of customers online, is there any differences you're seeing between the lottery segment and the sports segment, or are they performing similarly? Actually, second question, has there been a change in how customers are playing at the point of sale? Thank you.
Yeah. For us, the way we work to turn our customers online is very different between sports betting and lottery because of the regulation matter. On sports betting, the regulation is different on sports betting offline and online. Offline, it's a monopoly, an exclusive right we have for 25 years, and online it's a competitive business. We have a clear Chinese wall between the two activities, online and offline, and we cannot drive our customer offline to the online as we would drive them from monopoly to a competitive activity, which is totally forbidden. We don't do that. There is two different markets, and we work online to recruit new players online and to recruit players that have churned from other competitors. On the lottery side, this is completely different because we have monopoly rights on both the retail network and the online.
This means that we can work an omnichannel strategy. This is exactly what we are working on. A strategy in which a player can, for example, register on the point of sale and then play whether online and offline, both the two channels. We think this is a good strategy because we have seen that players that are playing both online and offline have more value than players that are playing just on one channel. What we will develop in the coming years is the capacity to have a seamless capacity to play online and offline for our players. We think that this is very important. We can also drive player from offline to online, and give a remuneration to our point of sale to help us doing that. This is opened when it's about lottery. This is not possible when it's about sports betting.
Sorry, you had a second question concerning the change in the consumption habits. It's quite a little bit too early to answer really completely to your question. What we have seen is that most of our players have come back to the point of sale as it was before. What we think that will happen is that, as the tele travail, home office, is developing, maybe we'll have some changing in the areas where our point of sales are located. For example, areas in the center of the towns where you have offices may have less people, for example, on midday during the week, and we will have more people on the residential towns, on the suburbs, where people are working on home office.
We may have some changes in the split of the business between the point of sale, maybe less business on the business part of the towns, and more activity in the suburbs where the people are living. This is one of the things that we can see. We are doing some more polls to understand really what is happening, and we don't think this is totally stabilized yet, because people are coming back to office just now. If we see what is happening in a lot of companies, they are coming back to work, and we will look at what is happening in the coming months. What is good for us is that we have seen, globally, our customers back to the point of sale, but also on the online. This is why online is continue to grow quite rapidly.
Okay. Thank you very much.
Thank you, madam. We have no other questions. Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to remind you that if you wish to ask one, you may press zero one on your telephone keypad. It's zero one on your telephone keypad. We have no other questions, sir.
Okay. Thank you very much for your attention and your very interesting question. I wish you a pleasant evening, and I look forward to talk to you again in the coming weeks and months to comment the other news flow from FDJ. Goodbye. Have a good evening.
Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes the conference call. Thank you all for your participation. You may now disconnect.