Evoke reported a 3% year-on-year rise in group revenue during the first half of 2025 as growth within its international business offset declines across both the UK and Ireland online gambling and retail segments.
Revenue for the six months to 30 June amounted to £887.8 million ($1.12 billion), ahead of the £862 million reported in H1 last year. This is in line with forecasts published in a trading update in July.
Detailing its performance on Wednesday, Evoke noted double-digit growth in its international arm was the standout highlight in H1. Revenue here was 13% higher than last year and accounted for 33.7% of overall revenue.
In contrast, its UK and Ireland online segment, Evoke’s primary source of revenue, saw a 0.7% revenue decline year-on-year. Retail revenue was also down 2.4% during the half year to £336.2 million.
Evoke highlighted tough Euros comps from last year and said a lack of major sporting events in the period impacted its performance.
This was noticeable across both online and retail performance in UK&I. However, Evoke noted differing trends by brand within this division. William Hill reported growth during the half, helping push overall gaming revenue up 4.4%. On the other hand, 888 reported a decline, due to what Evoke described as a “more disciplined marketing approach”.
There was a significant improvement in reported EBITDA, which more than trebled year-on-year to £141.3 million. In addition, adjusted EBITDA was 43.6% higher during the half.
Evoke remained at a statutory net loss but improvements in revenue and earnings meant this was more than halved from last year’s total.
Euro 2024 skews year-on-year comparisons
UK&I retail painted a similar picture to online, with revenue down 2.4% to £252.2 million, partly due to tough year-on-year Euros comps.
Evoke also made reference to “challenging conditions on the high street”, as the total number of William Hill shops fell 2.2% to 1,302 by the end of the half.
The group was, however, able to make improvements to its retail estate in the UK&I. It completed the rollout of 5,000 gaming machines in March, helping to drive group gaming revenue up 7% in Q2.
Speaking on the call, Evoke CEO Per Widerström revealed gross win per machine was 15% more than in Q3 of last year, with the new rollout drawing in more customers. He added that further machine enhancements are planned for H2, with additional legacy machines to be replaced.
“We are confident that our retail stores can continue to survive tough high street conditions in the UK and Ireland,” he said. “We will monitor profitability closely cross our network.”
Romania tax impact to be minimal
Away from the UK&I, international was the only business segment to report overall growth, with revenue up 13.% to £299.4 million. Across Europe Evoke noted double-digit growth in Italy and Denmark, while Romania showed triple-digit growth following the acquisition of Winner last year. Its other core international market, Spain, saw revenue rise 6%.
However, growth was offset slightly by reduced revenues from “optimised markets”. Evoke put this down to switching focus to profitability and cash generation, including exiting the US B2C business.
Within this sector, Evoke made reference to gambling tax in Romania. While it has been helped in the country through its purchase of Winner, a recent tax increase could hamper this progress, Evoke CEO Per Widerström said during the earnings call.
While Widerström described this rise as “unwelcome”, he said it will likely only have minimal impact on the group, given its recent growth in the country.
“It was unwelcome, but we are well placed with higher scale to continue growth with profitability in Romania,” he said. “We will only see an impact in the lower to mid-single digits, and likely not until next year.”
Evoke cautious on possible UK tax increase
Evoke also made reference to the possible increase of tax in the UK. Earlier in 2025, the Treasury proposed replacing the current three-rate system for remote gambling with a single remote gambling tax, called the Remote Betting & Gaming Duty.
The Institute for Public Policy Research has also called for an increase in tax. It suggested raising remote gaming duty from 21% to 50%, and machine games duty from 20% to 50% of operator profit. This would go along with increasing general betting duty from 15% to 25%.
Evoke CFO Sean Wilkins was cautious in his response during the company’s earning’s call on Wednesday. He acknowledged that while no decision had been made by the government, he advised officials to tread carefully in terms of how they approach a potential rise.
“We understand the government does need some cash, and the gaming industry an easy target,” he said. “We are following a wait-and-see pattern. If you increase tax beyond a certain point, this leads to black market growth. This would then lead to lower tax take and zero player protection, which is against the objective of government. This has been evidenced in the Netherlands,” Wilkins told analysts.
“Our expectation is to see a balanced approach between the requirement to get more cash and protecting the regulated market.”
Bottom-line improvements in H1
In addition to total revenue growth, Evoke was able to reduce costs across several areas. This was partly due to its exit from the US, with this helping to save on both sales and operating expenses.
The lower cost of sales meant gross profit increased 5.8% to £592.8 million. Meanwhile, savings across operating costs, marketing expenses and exceptional items resulted in an operating profit of £39.1 million. This was in contrast to last year’s £67.2 million loss, prior to the US exit.
Adjusted EBITDA for the half jumped 43.6% to £165.9 million. Financial expenses increased, but the revenue rise and overall cost reduction allowed pre-tax loss to decline from £147 million to £77.7 million.
Evoke paid £13 million in tax, meaning it ended the half with a net loss of £64.7 million, compared to last year’s £143.2 million loss.
Evoke CEO talks up ‘substantial strategic progress’
Widerström was positive about H1. He highlighted the group’s ongoing “transformation and operational reset” and the impact of certain initiatives on overall performance.
“We’re seeing clear evidence of the transformation and operational reset we’ve undertaken, with the group delivering continued revenue growth, significantly improved profitability and meaningful deleveraging during the first half of the year,” Widerström said.
He said its “improved financial performance” was the result of continued and substantial strategic progress, including “focusing resources on core markets and executing a short-term turnaround, while investing in building stronger capabilities”.
“Having delivered four consecutive quarters of growth, we are well positioned to drive continued progress, supported by our leading market positions, established brands, outstanding products and a clear customer proposition,” Widerström said.
High hopes for FY at Evoke
Looking ahead to Q3, Evoke said its performance so far in the quarter is in line with plans. As such, its revenue growth target for the full year remains in the range of 5% to 9%.
Evoke said momentum is accelerating in H2, helped by strong revenue drivers including new product launches and brand enhancements. This, it added, will likely help to improve profitability during the second half, with support from additional operational efficiencies.
The group also remains on track to deliver full-year guidance of an adjusted EBITDA margin of at least 20%.
“The acceleration in Q2 performance, together with a strong pipeline of product enhancements and operational efficiency initiatives, underpins our confidence of improved growth in H2,” Widerström added.
In its H1 results Evoke put some market declines down to switching its focus to profitability and cash generation. Meanwhile UK&I revenue dipped on tough Euros comps.