evoke–the troubled U.K. gambling Omnichannel formerly known as 888 Holdings–has released a H1 Trading Update, for the six-months ending June 30, which seeks to put those very troubles behind them.
The unaudited financial report puts evoke’s total revenue in the first quarter of this year at £431 million (US$559.74m) and claims “sequential stability” for the FTSE100 mega brand, which owns blue chip William Hill, Mr Green and a cluster of 888 derivatives.
Revenue in its British Online sector increased by three percent, with a highly-respectable six percent growth in iGaming driven by product and promotional improvements, says the update.
Nevertheless, because of “ongoing impacts from marketing changes in 2023 and lower-than-expected returns from Q1 promotional activities”, sports revenue faced challenges.
New leadership and commercial strategies have been implemented, including the successful launch of a new betbuilder product.
International revenue saw an increase of two percent, with double-digit growth in key markets such as Italy, Spain, and Denmark, which now account for around 60 percent of the division.
Focus
As the company’s focus shifted to profitability and cash creation, growth was impacted by reduced revenues in other markets, underlined by evoke’s hasty exit from the former 888 Holdings’ B2C U.S. business.
The gambling giant’s U.K. Retail vertical, spearheaded by William Hill’s 2,000-plus high street bookies, meantime, slid by eight percent in H1, compared to the same period last year.
The Adjusted EBITDA Margin for H1 is expected to be approximately 13-14 percent, the company said in a statement, influenced by the phasing of marketing costs heavily weighted to the first half, along with lower-than-expected revenue and “the timing of cost-saving actions”.
Along with its change of name, evoke also refinanced £400 million (US$519.57m) of debt in May this year.
Now led by CEO Per Widerström (pictured, left), the Omnichannel has also overhauled its leadership team, with nine new top executives appointed since October 2023.
Although H1 Adjusted EBITDA is expected to lag by up to £40 million (US$51.9m), against previously posted expectations, the outlook for revenue in H2 remains positive, with projected growth of between five-to-nine percent.
“We are focused on mid and long-term profitable growth and value creation,” affirmed Widerström.
“During the first half we have made bold, decisive changes to improve almost every area of the business.
“We are undertaking a complete reset and transformation of the business, and the scale of change is significant, but necessary.
“This transformation will take time but will enhance operational efficiency, leading to a bigger, more profitable and more cash-generating business in the future.
“Whilst it is disappointing that the first half financials are behind our plan, the underlying health of the business is getting stronger, and the corrective actions we have already taken make us even more confident that our strategic approach is sound and will achieve sustainable success.”
