Despite signalling potential shop closures earlier this year, William Hill‘s parent group Evoke continues to see growth for its retail betting activity according to its Q3 earnings report.
The LSE gambling group published its Q3 2025 accounts this morning, with retail revenue up 6% year-over-year, driven by a 6% increase in sports betting revenue and 6% increase in gaming.
The latter was driven by the rollout of new gaming cabinets across William Hill betting shops, a process initiated by the group in H1 – during which it had already begun to see a rebound for its retail division.
Positive retail results come just weeks after Evoke told The Sunday Times that it may be forced to close 10% of William Hill shops depending on whether betting tax raises are announced in the Autumn Statement on 26 November.
Evoke’s Q3 suggests that its retail outlets may be able to ride out the tax storms. However, the divergence of retail should be considered, with some shops likely performing far better than others and making more of a contribution to this rebound. Also, the firm itself noted that the retail recovery was ‘helped by weaker prior year win margins’.
Per Widerström, CEO of evoke, said: “During Q3 we continued to execute against our strategy which is transforming our long-term competitive capabilities and building a more efficient and profitable business. With retail continuing the improving trend from Q2, all three divisions were in growth during the quarter.”
888 drags Evoke online results
In contrast to retail, Evoke’s online growth was driven solely by sports betting in Q3. The unit saw overall growth of just 1%, driven by 8% growth in betting which offset at 2% decline in gaming revenue.
Evoke has historically been an online business, with the firm making its first foray into retail via the takeover of William Hill’s UK and international assets from Caesars Entertainment in 2022 – added to its online portfolio of 888 brands and Mr Green.
Period trading specifically cited the 888 brands as ‘a drag on growth’ in Q3, stating that it has had to ‘reduce marketing to target higher marketing returns with strong double digit contribution growth across both brands’.
Internationally, revenue was up 8%, with the group’s non-UK performance seeing a slowdown in Spain and other ‘non-core’ markets, but this was comfortably offset by growth in Denmark, Romania and Italy – in which Evoke underscored a positive start in Italy’s new regulated online gambling market.
“Whilst our refined approach to UK Online marketing to drive improved profitability slightly held back our top-line performance, we are pleased to have recorded our fifth consecutive quarter of profitable growth,” said Widerström.
“We have clear plans in place to support an improvement in revenue during Q4 through continued acceleration in product enhancements, including retail sports and our recently launched new William Hill Vegas app.
“We are also making ongoing improvements to our customer lifecycle management capabilities. Alongside this, the improvements we have made to the operating model and efficiencies in our cost base mean we remain confident of achieving our implied Adjusted EBITDA guidance, which would outperform market expectations.”
Tough Q4 landing
Against changing headwinds, Evoke maintains that it has performed to corporate expectations in Q3. On a year basis, group-wide revenue are up 5% year-over-year to £435m, with the LSE firm confident in continuing execution of its strategy.
As the year nears its close, Evoke remains confident in achieving its FY25 guidance. The firm is targeting an adjusted EBITDA margin of at least 20% and annual revenue growth of around 5-9%.
Q4 will prove critical for Evoke and other UK gambling stakeholders, however. Rachel Reeves, Chancellor of the Exchequer, will announce the budget on 26 November, with increases in betting tax considered highly likely.
“We continue to execute our turnaround with vigour and are making good progress against our plans to position evoke for long-term success and significant value creation,” Widerström concluded.
It is not just Evoke that has warned about the potential impacts tax increases could have on its business – Entain and Betfred have echoed the sentiment. If the industry is to be believed, the coming weeks could shape its future structure and sustainability significantly.
Despite signalling potential shop closures earlier this year, William Hill‘s parent group Evoke continues to see growth for its retail betting activity according to its Q3 earnings report. The LSE gambling group published its Q3 2025 accounts this morning, with retail revenue up 6% year-over-year, driven by a 6% increase in sports betting revenue and …