Skip to main content

Saturday 24 October

Today’s Edition

Market Reports

All market reports

More today

Retail & consumer

Evoke revenues dip as shop closures and sports results weigh, but Bally's deal on track Evoke, the betting and gaming group behind William Hill, 888 and Mr Green, reported a 7% decline in third-quarter revenues to £406 million, though the drop was far smaller on an underlying basis. Stripping out currency movements and the closure of around 270 retail shops over the past year, revenues fell just 2% on a like-for-like constant currency basis. Unusually customer-friendly sports results at the start of the football season added a further 1 to 2 percentage point headwind, meaning revenues were broadly stable on a normalised basis. Chief executive Per Widerström said the business continued to show resilience, with the group's focus on profitability and cash generation offsetting the impact of substantially higher gaming duties, particularly in the UK. He used the update to warn the government against further tax increases ahead of the Autumn Budget, saying the closure of 270 shops over the past year illustrated the real impact on jobs and livelihoods. On the corporate front, Evoke's recommended acquisition by Bally's Intralot S.A. is progressing as planned. Both sets of shareholders have passed the required resolutions and the majority of regulatory approvals have been received. Completion is expected late in the fourth quarter of 2026 or early in the first quarter of 2027, subject to the satisfaction or waiver of remaining conditions. Evoke, which is incorporated in Gibraltar and listed in London, operates across multiple international markets and has been reshaping its retail estate while investing in its online business. The Bally's Intralot deal, once complete, will mark a significant change of ownership for one of the UK's best-known betting brands.

By Ian Lyall

What brokers say

All broker views

Saturday 24 October

Today’s Edition

Most Read

  1. FTSE 100 LIVE: London shares sustain triple-digit loss. Nasdaq makes strong start
  2. FTSE 100 LIVE: London shares off their session lows as Wall Street edges into the green
  3. FTSE 100 LIVE: London finishes in the green as SpaceX propels Wall Street higher
  4. Leading bank remains a seller ahead of results - here's why
  5. Asian markets mixed as China growth beats forecasts while AI concerns weigh on Japan and Korea
  6. UK profit warnings hit two-year high as Budget uncertainty bites
  7. Asian markets mostly lower as Korean chip rout deepens and ASX pares losses
  8. AI search is reshaping the pest-control industry. So, does Rentokil needs to adapt?
  9. Broker keeps positive call on Barclays amid reports of regulatory scrutiny over private credit book
  10. FTSE 100 LIVE: London close in the green resisting the downward pull of Wall Street

Retail & consumer

Evoke revenues dip as shop closures and sports results weigh, but Bally's deal on track Evoke, the betting and gaming group behind William Hill, 888 and Mr Green, reported a 7% decline in third-quarter revenues to £406 million, though the drop was far smaller on an underlying basis. Stripping out currency movements and the closure of around 270 retail shops over the past year, revenues fell just 2% on a like-for-like constant currency basis. Unusually customer-friendly sports results at the start of the football season added a further 1 to 2 percentage point headwind, meaning revenues were broadly stable on a normalised basis. Chief executive Per Widerström said the business continued to show resilience, with the group's focus on profitability and cash generation offsetting the impact of substantially higher gaming duties, particularly in the UK. He used the update to warn the government against further tax increases ahead of the Autumn Budget, saying the closure of 270 shops over the past year illustrated the real impact on jobs and livelihoods. On the corporate front, Evoke's recommended acquisition by Bally's Intralot S.A. is progressing as planned. Both sets of shareholders have passed the required resolutions and the majority of regulatory approvals have been received. Completion is expected late in the fourth quarter of 2026 or early in the first quarter of 2027, subject to the satisfaction or waiver of remaining conditions. Evoke, which is incorporated in Gibraltar and listed in London, operates across multiple international markets and has been reshaping its retail estate while investing in its online business. The Bally's Intralot deal, once complete, will mark a significant change of ownership for one of the UK's best-known betting brands.

By Ian Lyall ·

Market Reports

Big caps

  1. Rio Tinto to invest $1.9bn in Queensland bauxite project
  2. FIVE AT FIVE: Tech rout wipes 2% off the Nasdaq, LSEG jumps on its Octus deal and Inchcape loses 9%
  3. European airlines stay consensus short, but EU consolidation theme draws investor interest
  4. UBS flags FICC miss as Barclays shares hold steady despite profit beat
  5. Sainsbury's shares fall 4% as softer second-quarter grocery growth clouds half-year beat
  6. AstraZeneca wins US approval for Ultomiris in rare kidney disease
All Big caps stories

What brokers say

Global stocks

  1. Gold miners brace for mixed third-quarter results as falling prices squeeze margins
  2. FIVE AT FIVE: Musk floats a $3.5 trillion merger, GSK lands an FDA first and Ashtead agrees a £505 million exit
  3. Tesla-SpaceX 'good idea', say ebullient Musk
  4. SpaceX 'rockets' in pre-market trading. Are the bulls delded?
  5. Google Cloud outage takes down Revolut and hits wave of UK websites
  6. Global banks' CoreWeave exposure well-managed despite debt fears, says JP Morgan
All Global stocks stories