The owner of William Hill and 888 said in an earnings release that revenues fell 67% in the first half of 2024, which it described as “disappointing and behind our original plan”.
Evoke, which was renamed from 888 earlier this year, posted core profits of £43.8m in the six months to June, down from £130.8m in the same period last year.
Sales fell 2% to £862 million as the company continued to implement a recovery plan introduced in March.
The company has re-aligned the geographic focus of its business to concentrate on its core markets and product priorities, which it said contributed to the losses.
This included the sale of the consumer-focused gaming business 888 in the US to the gaming and betting company Hard Rock Digital.
In addition, the company spent £16 million more on marketing and announced earlier this year that it would invest in artificial intelligence to increase business efficiency.
Per Widerstrom, CEO of Evoke, said the “fundamental health of the company is getting stronger and stronger.”
“The corrective measures already taken strengthen our confidence that our strategic approach is correct and that we will achieve sustainable success.
“We are completely transforming this business. The scale of the change is considerable, but it is necessary for us to achieve profitable growth and value creation in the medium and long term.”
Evoke owns gaming brands such as 888poker, 888casino and 888sport as well as the William Hill shops.
The company expects a “significant improvement in profitability” in the second half of 2024, as the losses from the sale of its customer-focused US business are no longer included in the results.
The company had already warned markets about the development last month when it said online sports betting revenue had declined year-on-year due to operational changes.
Meanwhile, the UK retail business, which includes William Hill stores, saw sales fall 8% in the six months to June 30 compared to the same period last year.
Previously, larger rival Flutter, which owns Betfair, reported a 20% increase in revenue for the last quarter compared to the same period last year, totaling $3.6 billion (£2.8 billion).
Betting shops in the UK are likely to be hit by stricter gambling regulations as the regulator is currently testing new controls.
These include changes to reduce the intensity of online gaming, stricter age verification at betting shops and checks on players’ creditworthiness.
As part of a pilot project, controls will initially come into force on online gambling customers who spend £500 a month from 30 August.
Entain, which owns Ladbrokes and Coral, said in early August that regulatory changes already in force in the UK had led to the loss of some higher-paying customers.
Other proposals by the former Conservative government remained pending following the Labour Party’s election victory.
