William Hill owner evoke reports 7% fall in Q3 revenue after closing about 270 shops, urges restraint on gambling tax before UK Budget

evoke Q3 2026 revenue and the 270 shop closures

evoke, which is incorporated in Gibraltar and listed in London, published an unaudited trading update on October 23 covering the three months to September 30. Group revenue was £406m, a 7% fall on a reported basis. A year earlier, its third-quarter update reported revenue of £435.4m, up 5%, with all three divisions (UK and Ireland online, retail and international) growing at the time.

The latest update is much shorter than last year's and does not break revenue down by division. It gives two adjusted measures instead. On a like-for-like basis at constant currency, which strips out the roughly 270 shops the group no longer operates compared with the same period of 2025, revenue was down 2%. The company also said football results at the start of the season went the customers' way, which it estimated cost 1 to 2 percentage points of growth. Adjusting for expected sports margins as well, it described revenue as "broadly stable".

The closures are in the group's retail division, which runs William Hill's high-street betting shops. In the third quarter of 2025, evoke's retail division generated £121.7m of revenue, according to that period's trading update.

What evoke wants from the UK Autumn Budget

Widerström tied the shop closures directly to tax. "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," he said. "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."

The Budget statement is scheduled for Wednesday, October 28. The 2025 Budget already changed the remote side of the market. Under HMRC's current rates, Remote Gaming Duty, which applies to online casino and other remote gaming profits, rose from 21% to 40% for accounting periods starting on or after April 1, 2026. A new 25% rate for remote betting within General Betting Duty starts on April 1, 2027. General Betting Duty on bets placed in shops stays at 15% for the 2026-27 tax year.

The tax most relevant to betting shops this year is Machine Games Duty, which currently charges 20% on net takings from most gaming machines in shops, with 5% for low-stake machines and 25% for machines where the cost to play can exceed £5. The Social Market Foundation think tank has called for the main rate to double to 40%, and 90 Labour MPs backed that call in a letter. Unnamed sources cited in national newspaper reports last week put the likely rise at 25% instead. The Treasury has not commented, and the rate will not be known until the Budget is delivered.

Bally's Intralot acquisition

evoke also said Bally's Intralot's recommended all-share acquisition of the company remains on track. Shareholders of both companies have approved the deal at their meetings, and most of the required regulatory approvals have been received. Completion is expected late in the fourth quarter of 2026 or early in the first quarter of 2027, subject to the remaining conditions.

Other third-quarter disclosures this week also showed regulation shaping revenue. Swedish supplier Evolution reported in its third-quarter report that it had closed its Brazil studio after a presidential regulatory rollback. In the UK, the Gambling Commission separately announced a £900,000 settlement with All British Casino operator L&L Europe over withdrawal delays and anti-money laundering failings.