Evoke attributes the severe challenges faced by the British retail sector as the reason for its year-over-year decline in the second quarter of 2024.
The overall loss for the first half increased to 143 million GBP, compared to 32 million GBP in the same period last year, while the reported revenue was 862 million GBP, a 2% decrease year-over-year, but a 4% increase compared to the second half of 2023.
An 8% decline in the UK retail sector is considered a key factor contributing to the downturn, as the company acknowledges that William Hill's retail betting products have fallen behind competitors.
Furthermore, the group's revenue reached 862 million GBP in the first half of the year (first half of 2022: 881 million GBP), meeting management's expectations, however, the group's financials show a double-digit decline in adjusted EBITDA across all core business divisions.
Group CEO Per Widerström stated: "Our marketing return (primarily UK online marketing) was below expectations, resulting in an online marketing ratio of 25%, higher than planned. We have formed a new experienced business leadership team and marketing leadership team, and we are changing the way we plan and conduct marketing.
"As I mentioned in the trading update in July, although the financial performance in the first half was disappointing and behind our initial plans, the fundamental health of the business is continuously improving.
"The corrective actions we have taken make us more confident that our strategic direction is sound, and that we will achieve sustainable success."
The group's UK online vertical business did not meet expectations, and online sports betting revenue also failed to be boosted by major events such as the European Championship, with a decline of 5.3% in online sports betting revenue.
