Betclic owner Banijay's profit rises 10% as betting gains strength

By Leo Marchandon

(Reuters) -French media group Banijay posted a 10% rise in nine-month profits on Thursday, driven by its betting division as it prepares to close a major acquisition that will double its gaming business.

The company, which produces TV shows including "Big Brother" and owns betting platform Betclic reported earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) of 597 million euros ($696.22 million) for the first nine months of 2025, while revenue rose 4% to 3.22 billion euros.

While Banijay Gaming accounts for only about one-third of group revenue, it contributes roughly half of profitability, highlighting the lucrative nature of the betting business compared to content production.

Gaming EBITDA rose 12.9% to 301 million euros with a margin of 26.6%, while entertainment EBITDA increased 6.7% to 303 million euros with a 14.5% margin.

Gaming revenue rose 8.5% to 1.13 billion euros despite a tough comparison to 2024's Olympics and European football championships.

Entertainment revenue edged up 1.7% to 2.09 billion euros, boosted by the success of "House of Guinness" on Netflix, which ranked third among English-language series globally in its first week.

Last week, Banijay announced it would acquire a majority stake in Germany's Tipico from private equity firm CVC in a deal valuing the betting company at 4.6 billion euros.  

CEO François Riahi said during a press call the transaction would create a combined entity with 6.5 million active players and pro forma 2024 revenue of 3 billion euros. After closing, Banijay Gaming will lead in France, Germany and Poland.

Banijay lowered its full-year revenue growth guidance to reflect the sports year and content delivery delays, now expecting low-single digit growth for entertainment and around 10% for gaming, down from mid-single digit and mid-teens respectively, while confirming its profit and cash conversion targets.

($1 = 0.8575 euros)

(Reporting by Leo Marchandon in Gdansk, Editing by Matt Scuffham)