After a disastrous first half of 2024, in which their earnings fell by a staggering 67%, the good times have finally returned for Evoke, the owner/operator of William Hill and 888.
The firm signed off on the year with a second consecutive quarter of increased revenue, with the number of online bets place increasing by 19%.
And that increased betting handle was matched by sports results that would best be described as ‘bookmaker friendly’, ensuring that Evoke head into 2025 on a much more positive footing.
A Pivotal Year
Having took the plunge on William Hill back in 2022, profitability has been hard to come by for Evoke since… not least because that £1.95 billion takeover was largely debt-funded.
Bosses have been forced to find cost reductions and streamline their three headline businesses (William Hill, 888 and Mr Green), which they’ve managed to do by investing heavily in AI and automation tools.
And having ‘refocused’ their energy on core markets, Evoke’s brands are seeing returns that will please their shareholders considerably.
Revenue for the second half of 2024 is expected to hit the 5-9% forecast range, with an increase of 8% anticipated. What’s more, even accounting for the awful trading to start the year, Evoke’s adjusted earnings should still hit £300 million for the year… a strong performance considering those earlier challenges.
In quarter four last year, they recorded revenue growth of 13% year on year, with enhanced performance online delivering 17% gains (or 19% in constant currency).
Their CEO, Per Widerstrom, has praised the company’s efforts in getting costs under control while implementing an ‘increasingly efficient operating model’.
“2024 was a pivotal year as we started to implement our new strategy for success, radically transforming almost every area of the business, and moved decisively and at pace to position evoke for mid and long-term profitable growth,” he said.
“We go into 2025 with improving momentum as we continue to execute against our value creation plan.”
Those eye-catching results saw Evoke’s share price rise by a six-month high of 11% this morning (Friday January 17), which is a far cry from the staggering losses the firm has otherwise experienced – some 36% was wiped from their stock market value in 2024.
Close to Home
Consolidation has seen Evoke concentrate their efforts on just five key markets: the UK and Ireland, Denmark, Italy, Romania and Spain, with the quintet accounting for around 90% of the company’s revenue in quarter four.
That’s in stark contrast to a number of their rivals in the UK market, who have been trying to make inroads into the United States. However, sports results in America have been so customer friendly that Flutter Entertainment, the owner of Paddy Power and Betfair, were forced to issue a profit warning in response.
“Following our Q3 earnings report on November 12, continued strong US player momentum has been offset by a period of very unfavourable US sports results across the remainder of November and in December, primarily on NFL Parlay and Same Game Parlay outcomes,” Flutter revealed.
“The 2024/2025 NFL season to date has been the most customer friendly since the launch of online sports betting, with the highest rate of favourites winning in nearly 20 years.”
According to early estimates, the NFL campaign has cost Flutter around £352 million so far, with a handful of play-off games – and the Super Bowl – still to be played.
Of those results, one contest in particular – the meeting between the Detroit Lions and San Francisco 49ers on December 30 – saw the firm hit for a whopping £60 million.
The game, which ended 40-34 in Detroit’s favour, saw the three most popular bets – Detroit to win, Detroit -4 points and over 50.5 game points – all land.
And to make matters worse, a number of players that had been well backed to score a touchdown – including Jahmyr Gibbs, Jameson Williams, Sam LaPorta and Amon-Ra St Brown – all duly obliged in the high-scoring encounter.
So challenging have those trading conditions become in America for Flutter, they were forced to post a London Stock Exchange update to their shareholders, warning of potential downturns in forecasted earnings to the tune of some £212 million in the final quarter of 2024.
However, they have promised ‘good momentum’ in the UK and Ireland thanks to rather more agreeable results in the Premier League, with Manchester City routinely dropping points along with perennial match favourites Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham.