FINANCIAL REPORT - Française des Jeux

up a joint venture. The Commission gave its approval on 25 May
2010, allowing the partners to create LB Poker, a company that
aims to be a mass market player, recognised for its reliability, the
quality of its customer relations, and its ability to innovate. To
achieve its purpose it has three key strengths: the name
recognition, reputation and credibility of both la Française des
Jeux and Groupe Lucien Barrière; the existing synergies between
online poker and brick-and-mortar casinos; and the
complementary nature of its founders’ businesses and expertise.
The joint venture was approved by ARJEL on 26 July 2010,
following the effective opening of the online poker segment on
30 June 2010, and the BarrierePoker.fr website was launched in
mid-September. Intended for all types of players, this website
offers a range that is innovative and scalable thanks to proprietary
technology, a strategic choice guided by LB Poker’s desire to
control its technology, develop new offers tailored to the market,
ensure optimum security, and meet players’ expectations over
the long run.
Upgraded websites and greater visibility of FDJ ® ’s online
offer
To highlight its new offers and better meet players’ expectations,
in May 2010 la Française des Jeux launched a new commercial
portal that is both more modern and more powerful. The site’s
redesign is part of an overall scheme to modernise la Française
des Jeux, begun in earnest with the launch in October 2009 of
the FDJ ® commercial brand which is aimed at players and
coexists with the corporate trademark.
The new commercial website provides access to the full range of
online games offered by the Group, whilst enhancing the credibility
of la Française des Jeux in terms of innovation and closeness to
the customer. Each range has its own distinct identity, which is
visible from the home page through to the dedicated pages.
Beyond an impressive offer, the new site also offers a wide range
of user services, such as the opportunity to prepare their wager
before validating their identity, as at a retail establishment.
Improved readability of the offers and services and a more fl uid
customer journey between web pages also provides a more
streamlined and entertaining experience. With an average of
4 million individual visitors to the fdj.fr website in 2010 and 19.4%
growth in online player stake, la Française des Jeux confi rms its
ambition to make its website a real high-traffi c draw for its
customers. Already, in terms of audience, fdj.fr is the number one
website for betting games, with 900,000 registered players.
In addition, Responsible Gaming is at the centre of the legislative
developments governing the liberalisation of online gaming. Player
registrations are regulated, payments on the site are capped, limits
moderating play must be selected by players for deposits and
bets, and advertising is supervised. The new commercial website
also has a section dedicated to Responsible Gaming, designed
within the navigation bar and thus appearing on a recurring basis
on all pages of the site, to guide players throughout their gaming
LA FRANÇAISE DES JEUX — 9
experience. The site also offers a free tool to help control play,
Playscan, which analyses the real-time attitude of players based
on their bets and frequency of play. Players can use this to better
measure changes in their playing patterns and thus identify, and
even anticipate, any excessive gambling.
La Française des Jeux is the only operator in France to offer such
a tool on the Internet.
Promoting the offer also requires greater online visibility, so la
Française des Jeux has concluded several media partnership
agreements. One example is the three-year extension of its
partnership with the radio station RTL, through which it can
combine RTL’s editorial expertise in sport with the experience,
credibility and expertise of la Française des Jeux in sports betting.
In addition to editorial integration with radio programmes, this
agreement provides for additional exposure on the rtl.fr website.
In early March 2010, the company also signed an agreement with
television network TF1 which includes the sponsoring of short
broadcast programmes created by la Française des Jeux. Orange
and Yahoo! are also now partners of la Française des Jeux.
Accordingly, the company's offer is highlighted on the web and
mobile portals of Orange, the leading French telecom operator,
as well as the Yahoo! search engine. A page dedicated to the
ParionsWeb offer has been created and can be accessed via a tab
on the Yahoo! Sports home page.
Lastly, the corporate website was updated on 7 December 2010,
allowing la Française des Jeux to present a new face on the
Internet. The upgrading of the corporate website follows the
rollout in May 2010 of the new visual identity for the corporate
trademark which aims to better refl ect the company’s dynamism
and modernity. The new logo refl ects the company’s leadership
ambition and, in particular, expresses its commitment to ethics
(Responsible Gaming), sustainable development, and openness
to civil society (through the corporate foundation).
Sustainable development policy stepped up
In early 2010, la Française des Jeux stepped up its sustainable
development policy through an approach based on seven
commitments. In expressing its own idea of its corporate social
responsibility, these seven commitments are tailored to the Group’s
vision of the sector and its concept of the business.
As such, they include aims for Responsible Gaming, customer
satisfaction, societal commitment, environmental impact, partner
relations, human resources and corporate governance. Inspired by
rigorous benchmarks, each commitment is embodied by an action
plan with indicators to measure progress.
La Française des Jeux has also changed its organisation to better
direct the sustainable development policy, with three levels of
decision-making: a Management Committee for general guidance,
a Sustainable Development Steering Committee for the coordination
of the seven commitments and, on a more operational level,
Sustainable Development Commitments Committees which