Evoke plc (LSE: EVOK), owner of William Hill, 888 and Mr Green, reported group revenue of £406m for the three months to 30 September 2026, down 7% on a reported basis, in an unaudited trading update on 23 October. The Evoke Q3 trading update puts the like-for-like decline at 2%, once about 270 closed retail shops are stripped out.
Evoke Q3 revenue
The 2% like-for-like figure is at constant currency, with both periods translated at 2026 exchange rates, according to the company’s Q3 2026 trading update. It excludes the effect of the retail estate running roughly 270 shops smaller than in the third quarter of 2025.
Sports results went the customers’ way at the start of the football season. Evoke said this cost about 1 to 2 percentage points of year-on-year revenue growth at group level, so that revenue was broadly stable on a normalised basis, a measure that adjusts for the effect of sports results on margins.
The update gives no profit, EBITDA or divisional figures for the quarter.
Tax warning before the Budget
Per Widerström, Chief Executive Officer of Evoke, tied the shop closures directly to UK gambling taxation and addressed the Treasury ahead of the Budget.
On an underlying basis the business continues to show resilience and reflects our continued emphasis on profitability and cash generation following the substantial increases in gaming duties, particularly in the UK. The closure of 270 shops over the past year shows the real impact on jobs and livelihoods from higher industry taxation, and we urge the UK Government to carefully consider any further increases ahead of its forthcoming Autumn Budget.
Per Widerström, Chief Executive Officer, Evoke, in the Q3 trading update
Remote Gaming Duty rose from 21% to 40% on 1 April 2026, and a 25% remote rate of General Betting Duty, up from 15%, applies from 1 April 2027, according to the government’s response on remote gambling tax. Remote bets on UK horseracing stay at 15%.
Widerström was one of six operator chief executives who wrote to Chancellor John Healey in a letter published on 14 October asking him to rule out a Machine Games Duty rise and pause the April 2027 betting duty increase. The letter cites EY estimates, commissioned by the Betting and Gaming Council (BGC), of 690 to 1,470 betting shop closures if the duty on Category B machines doubles to 40%.
Bally’s Intralot deal
Bally’s Intralot S.A. agreed in June to buy Evoke in an all-share deal valuing it at about £243m, offering 0.537 new Bally’s Intralot shares per Evoke share, with a cash alternative of 52 pence per share capped at £117.1m in total.
Both sets of shareholders have now passed the required resolutions, after Evoke investors approved the scheme at the court and general meetings on 17 August. Most of the required regulatory approvals have been received, Evoke said. Widerström said the company remains focused on disciplined execution and operational efficiency until the deal closes.
Next steps
Healey presents the Autumn Budget on 28 October 2026. Evoke expects the acquisition to complete late in the fourth quarter of 2026 or early in the first quarter of 2027, subject to the remaining conditions, including outstanding regulatory approvals and sanction of the scheme by the Supreme Court of Gibraltar, where Evoke is registered.
Source: evoke plc
