In the midst of its acquisition by Bally’s Intralot, William Hill parent company Evoke remains in more or less the exact same financial position it was in last year.
The firm is due to be acquired by Bally’s Intralot in either Q4 2026 or Q1 2027. Athens-listed Bally’s Intralot paid £243.3m for its LSE listed counterpart, and the deal has been fully backed by Evoke’s board.
“Prgress with the relevant filings is going to plan, and we still expect to close in the fourth quarter of 2026 or the first of 2027,” Evoke Chief Executive Officer, Per Widerström, told analysts during a H1 earnings call this morning.
“Operationally, our priorities are unchanged,” he added. “We remain focused on maintaining momentum, serving our customers, reporting our colleagues, meeting our regular prorogations, and managing the business with discipline through the completion of the transaction.”
Publishing its H1 trading results this morning, Evoke revealed that its net debt remains as burdensome as ever. The figure has actually risen by £35m since H1 2025, up from £1.86m to £1.89bn.
As Bally’s Intralot also carries a substantial amount of debt, and dealing with this is and will continue to be a key objective post-acquisition. Bally’s Intralot’s CEO, Robeson Reeves, had previously told SBC that he does expect the debt to be a huge issue for his company, however.
So, how did Evoke’s trading fare in H1? As mentioned above, it wasn’t bad at all, but it also wasn’t exactly a whitewash either. Group revenue remained flat, having shifted marginally from £887.8m in H1 2025 to £887.5m this year.
The group’s adjusted results saw gross profit of £150.2m (£165.9m) and adjusted EBITDA of £552.4m (£592.8m), both down from the year prior. Profit before tax also fell from £12.6m to £700,000, while profit after tax was £1.9m.
Period trading saw group accounts book a £46m year-on-year increase in gaming duties, predominantly attributed to UK activities.
Leadership disclosed to SBC a breakdown of gaming tax duties of £30m in the UK (incurred as of April 2026), £10m in Italy and the remainder in Romania – Tax impacts were in-line with expectations
Sean Wilkins, Evoke Chief Financial Officer, remarked that the H1 was “disappointing internationally”, with the new rates in Italy and Romania driving a 20% reduction in AEBITDA for Evoke’s international operations.
This was compounded by “weaker revenue in several markets”, particularly Spain and Romania.
Despite this, the group still had some good words to say about Italy – a market many companies are having a positive experience form financially at the moment – with revenue there increasing 21%, while its Danish revenue was also up 13%.
“The first half demonstrated the resilience of the business in a significantly more challenging operating environment following substantial increases in gaming duties introduced across some of our core markets, most notably in the UK,” said Widerström.
Evoke takes on the UK high street
For UK customers, Evoke’s most notable brand by far is William Hill, the legacy retail and online betting brand it paid £2.2bn for back in 2021 – a transaction that has heavily contributed to the debt outlined above.
Its other major asset in the UK is the 888 group of brands. In the UK, revenue from 888 continued to decline throughout the first six months of the year, with Evoke stating that this is due to a deliberate focus on profitability.
Overall though, UK and Ireland (UKI) online revenue rose 3.5% to £348.1m, driven by a 6.7% growth in gaming revenue – though the declines at 888 did hold the division back, as did a 2.4% decline in betting revenue.
UKI adjusted EBITDA, meanwhile, increased to £77m. Leadership attributed this partly due to marketing costs, having said in November last year that it would likely cut its marketing budget by about 20% to help absorb the new tax regime implemented in April 2025.
It was the announcement of this tax regime by Rachel Reeves, then Chancellor of the Exchequer, in her November 2025 budget that prompted Evoke to undertake a strategic review of its business, leading to the Bally’s Intralot acquisition.
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Retail revenue was also down 2.6%, attributed by the group to store closures. Wilkins reminded investors that 70 William Hill stores were closed in Q4 2025 and a further 200 have been closed this year.
The number of William Hill shops has fallen 21% year-over-year from 1,302 at the end of H1 2025 (30 June 2025) to 1,024 shops at the end of H1 2026.
However, Evoke’s CFO remained adamant that retail has improved, with retail adjusted EBITDA up 5%, likely a result of the last cost-efficient William Hill shop closing.
Wilkins added that the “retail customer proposition has improved” while Evoke has also “improved its overhead”.
“The decision to close shops is never taken lightly,” he continued.
“However, in the current external environment, it is necessary to address structurally long-term locations. The performance of the remaining estate demonstrates the benefits of concentrating resources on a more productive shop portfolio.
Closing his final presentation as CEO of Evoke, Widerström praised the company for showcasing its resilience in a challenging commercial environment, in which decisive actions had taken to protect profitability.
The board and leadership stand by the acquisition offer of Bally’s Intralot as the most attractive outcome for shareholders – “we believe the recommended acquisition by Balance Intralot represents the most attractive and deliverable outcome for shareholders.
“This will provide the business with a strong and long-term capital strategy. Until completion, our focus remains unchanged, serving our customers, supporting our colleagues, and executing with discipline, and continuing to generate strong cash flow.”
Given the forthcoming acquisition, Evoke has not issued any guidance for the end of 2026.
