evoke Reports Resilient H1 2026 Results Under Per Widerström and Sean Wilkins
evoke, the group behind William Hill, 888 and Mr Green, has posted its evoke H1 2026 results, and the number that frames everything is £46m. That’s the year-on-year rise in gaming duties the group absorbed in six months, most of it in the UK. Group revenue held flat at £887.5m, up 2% like-for-like, while adjusted EBITDA fell 9.5% to £150.2m. The recommended Bally’s Intralot acquisition remains on track.
What the evoke H1 2026 results actually show
Start with the top line, because it barely moved. Group revenue of £887.5m was level with the prior year on a reported basis and grew 2% once you exclude roughly 270 betting shops closed over the past twelve months. Underneath that calm surface, the mix shifted hard. UK&I Online revenue rose 4%, with gaming up 7% on the back of William Hill. Revenue from 888 fell, but by design, as the group chased profitability over lower-return volume rather than defending a headline number.
Adjusted EBITDA tells the pressure story. It dropped to £150.2m, and the single biggest driver was that £46m duty increase. Reported EBITDA fell around 12% to £124.8m. The group booked a reported loss after tax of £70.2m, though on an adjusted basis it edged to a £1.9m profit.
How William Hill and UK&I online carried the gaming operator
Here’s the part operators care about. evoke didn’t simply eat the duty. It offset over half of the gross increase inside the same half, and it did so while growing profit online. UK&I Online adjusted EBITDA rose 28% even as the higher UK duty rate took effect from 1 April. Marketing spend was cut 18.5%, from £142.1m to £115.8m, taking the marketing-to-revenue ratio down to 13%.
That combination matters. Cutting marketing and holding profit is one thing. Cutting marketing and growing profit points to better promotional efficiency and pricing, not a spending freeze that simply borrows from the next period.
What the international betting numbers signal
The international picture was less tidy. Revenue slipped 2%, with strong double-digit growth in Italy, up 21%, and Denmark, up 13%, offset by weaker trading in Spain, Romania and Rest of World markets. International adjusted EBITDA fell around 21%, dragged by higher duties in Romania and Italy and a mix shift towards higher-duty markets. Retail, meanwhile, grew 4% like-for-like and lifted profit despite a smaller estate, helped by new self-service betting terminals including the deployment of 2,000 new cabinets.
The going-concern caveat behind evoke’s numbers
Intellectual honesty demands the risk section, and evoke names it itself. The accounts carry two material uncertainties around going concern. One applies if the Bally’s Intralot deal fails and the group must refinance debt maturing in 2028; the other applies if the deal completes, given limited current visibility over the new owner’s intentions. Net leverage rose to 5.6x from 5.2x at year end. None of this is hidden, but it is the honest counterweight to a resilient operating print.
What comes next for the regulated gaming market?
evoke’s half-year is bigger than one company. As the parent of William Hill, 888 and Mr Green, its results are an early read on how the UK’s higher remote gaming duty is reshaping operator economics, and the direction is clear: margin protection now runs through marketing discipline and pricing, not scale of spend. Shareholders vote on the Bally’s Intralot deal on 17 August, with completion targeted for Q4 2026 or Q1 2027. The takeaway for the industry is simple enough, and slightly uncomfortable: in a higher-tax market, spending less while earning more is no longer a nice-to-have, it’s the whole game.
Source: evoke
