By Aby Jose Koilparambil
(Reuters) -British betting and gaming firm Evoke reported 3% growth in third-quarter group revenue on Friday, driven by market share gains in its key international markets, indicating progress in its turnaround strategy.
Shares in the FTSE Small Cap company, which had plunged more than 14% on Monday on tax hike fears, were up as much as 6.6% in Friday’s early trade.
The company’s revenue growth comes at a time betting firms face challenges from rising competition and regulatory scrutiny across several markets and potential tax hikes in the new British government’s first budget at the end of October.
Evoke, whose brands include William Hill, 888 and Mr Green, posted online revenue growth of 8% for the three months ended Sept. 30.
Chief Executive Per Widerström said the online business is a clear growth engine for the group and said he was pleased that the turnaround of the business is working, after the company posted its first quarter of revenue growth since the March quarter of 2022.
The company, which had laid out a turnaround plan in August following a profit warning, said revenue jumped 26% in its core international markets of Italy, Spain, Denmark and Romania.
Investec analyst Roberta Ciaccia said in a note the third-quarter numbers will allow for consistent market share gains over time.
Evoke took up its new name earlier this year, changing from 888 Holdings, as part of CEO Widerström’s strategy to focus on core markets and reset its operating model with a focus on automation and artificial intelligence.
Evoke, which has locally licensed markets in 10 European countries and six U.S. states along with some other regions, reiterated its forecast for the second-half period ending Dec. 31, 2024.
On Thursday, Evoke’s rival Entain said it now expects annual core profit to be towards the top end of its earlier forecast of 1 billion pounds ($1.31 billion) to 1.1 billion pounds, boosted by a strong third-quarter performance.
($1 = 0.7657 pounds)
(Reporting by Aby Jose Koilparambil in Bengaluru; Editing by Sonia Cheema and Toby Chopra)
