Evoke sees path to long-term profitability as FY2024 losses total £191m

Evoke Plc has branded 2024 as a step change year for its business, keeping its pledge to return to online growth, yet corporate losses widen to £191m.

The LSE-listed gambling group reports it has achieved all Year 1 objectives and commitments of its Value Creation Plan (VCP), with improved profitability metrics group-wide on display as of H2 trading.

Headline improvements include a 3% increase in FY2024 revenues to £1.75 billion (FY2023: £1.71 billion) — “returning to growth for the first time in three years, driven by Online performance and strong acceleration in H2.”

Group EBITDA stood at £230 million, down 9% on 2023’s £252 million. The year-end accounts saw Evoke record £90 million in exceptional items and adjustments, primarily related to the exit from its US joint venture (-£43m) and VCP-related restructuring (-£47m).

Nonetheless, bottom-line impacts were partially offset by management highlighting an H2 adjusted EBITDA contribution of £197 million (+33% growth), supported by the identification of £45 million in recurring cost savings.

The year closed with a net loss of £191 million — Evoke’s third consecutive annual loss since 888 Holdings’ acquisition of William Hill Plc, completed in July 2022.

This net loss reflects debt and refinancing costs totalling £168 million, alongside exceptional items of £162 million (US exit, VCP initiatives, and amortisation charges).

Per Widerström, CEO of Evoke Plc, commented:“2024 was a pivotal year for Evoke as we launched and implemented our new strategy for success, radically transforming almost every area of the business and moving decisively to create a more sustainable, profitable, and cash-generative company.”

“Whilst a transformation of this scale is never easy, I am pleased with the strong progress we made during the year as we built a winning team and delivered a consistently great customer experience. I am very proud of how our teams embraced the major changes implemented during 2024 and would like to thank all my colleagues for their continued skill and commitment.”

Yearly highlights focused on Evoke’s return to online growth, with its UK & Ireland unit generating a 5.3% increase in online revenue to £693.2 million. However, the region continued to be hindered by a 5.4% decline in Retail revenue to £506.1 million, resulting in a 13.7% fall in total Adjusted EBITDA to £209.1 million due to underperformance across the retail estate.

International operations continued to outperform expectations, with revenue rising 7.3% to £555.2 million and Adjusted EBITDA increasing by 30.8% to £130 million — driven by robust growth in core markets including Italy, Spain, and Denmark. Momentum is set to continue in 2025 with the integration of Winner.ro, establishing Romania as a refreshed core market.

Looking ahead, the Board of Evoke maintains its FY2025 targets of 5–9% revenue growth and an Adjusted EBITDA margin of at least 20%.

Leadership plans to secure a further £15–25 million in annual cost savings — a projection that is expected to more than offset the anticipated £10 million headwinds from changes to National Insurance and the National Living Wage in the UK.

However, Evoke has faced short-term headwinds in Q1 2025, which will result in revenue growth below guidance. This is primarily due to the introduction of additional safer gambling measures in the UK at the end of Q4, and a temporary slowdown as platforms normalise following a period of elevated activity in late 2024.

In the medium term, the Group is targeting a leverage ratio of below 3.5x by 2027, allowing additional time to build out world-class capabilities.

CEO Widerström concluded: “We remain laser-focused on our core markets of the UK, Italy, Spain, Romania, and Denmark. These markets – where we have strong brands and market positions – now represent approximately 90% of our revenue, with each boasting attractive long-term growth potential, high barriers to entry, and established regulatory frameworks.

2025 is shaping up to be another exciting year for Evoke. While Q1 revenue growth is expected to be low single digit, we remain highly confident in our full-year expectations of 5–9% growth, in addition to driving further margin expansion through our more efficient operating model. Our exciting product pipeline, continued UK Retail optimisation programme, and ever-improving capabilities around data and personalisation all reinforce my confidence in making further progress in 2025 as we continue to execute against our plans to create significant shareholder value.”