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| Share Name | Share Symbol | Market | Stock Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Evoke Plc | EVOK | London | Ordinary Share |
| Price Change | Price Change % | Share Price | Last Trade
|
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| -1.25 | -2.01% | 60.95 | 16:35:22 |
| Open Price | Low Price | High Price | Close Price | Previous Close |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 62.90 | 60.40 | 63.40 | 60.95 | 62.20 |
| Industry Sector |
|---|
| PHARMACEUTICALS & BIOTECHNOLOGY |
| Top Posts |
|---|
Posted at 03/12/2024 17:56 by mirabeau Many thanks to Edmond Jackson for his efforts :----------- Stockwatch: time to buy this ex-FTSE 100 fallen star? It’s possible the stars are aligning for this company and, while they’ll probably remain off-limits to conservative investors, analyst Edmond Jackson believes the odds are shifting in their favour. 3rd December 2024 12:47 by Edmond Jackson from interactive investor The small-cap shares in betting group Evoke EVOK 2.69% look as if they’re possibly forming a support level around the 50-60p area and continuing to rise to 65p this morning. Might this mark a “double bottom” chart reversal since mid-October? Its five-year chart shows a roller coaster over the Covid lockdown period when online gambling went through a boom and slump; then in 2023 a rally from 55p to 125p failed to hold, and this year the stock halved from 100p: Evoke performance chart There is a greater fall from grace in the sense of how William Hill – nowadays just one company in this group – has twice been in and out the FTSE 100, back in 2005 and 2013. “Evoke” is barely six months old: a re-branding of what used to be 888 Holdings, which listed in 2005 having developed online gambling brands such as 888casino, 888 poker and 888sport. Over 2011 to 2018, its shares ten-bagged from 30p to 300p, but fell to 135p before Covid. Then in mid-2022 came the transformational (in a questionable sense) takeover of William Hill for £2.2 billion, which introduced the “Mr Green” brand that Hill acquired for £242 million in early 2019. So, there are impressive-sounding assets – historically at least – if hard for non-gamblers to judge how competitive they stand in this industry. There is Denise Coates, majority shareholder and CEO of Bet365, who is the highest-paid business person in the UK; and enough ads on commercial radio featuring Harry Redknapp for Bet Victor to drive you potty. Was William Hill a classic ‘stretch too far’? A chief reason this is share trading near all-time lows is the William Hill takeover saddling the group with colossal debt. It marked a prime example of how the era of ultra-low interest rates (and in the wake of Covid) led to some companies losing sense as to appropriate gearing. As of last 30 June, Evoke’s balance sheet had £1,655 million of longer-term debt, plus a more modest £29 million of near-term debt, tempered only by £244 million cash. It is chiefly why the net assets position has deteriorated – to £56 million negative and before £1,983 million goodwill/intangibles Moreover, the ratio of current assets to current liabilities was shy of 0.6 – further worsening a high financial-risk profile. Evoke - financial summary Year-end 31 Dec 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 Turnover (£ million) 406 439 663 712 1,239 1,711 Operating margin (%) 18.4 9.3 3.9 8.9 -1.0 -3.5 Operating profit (£m) 74.8 40.9 25.6 63.2 -11.8 33.0 Net profit (£m) 71.1 32.6 8.8 49.9 -120 -56.4 EPS - reported (p) 19.4 8.8 2.3 13.2 -28.3 -12.6 EPS - normalised (p) 17.6 10.0 18.5 17.1 0.1 7.5 Operating cashflow/share (p) 8.6 17.3 42.5 25.6 -7.1 33.8 Capital expenditure/share (p) 4.5 4.8 6.8 6.1 18.0 15.7 Free cashflow/share (p) 4.1 12.5 35.7 19.5 -25.1 18.1 Dividends per share (p) 9.2 4.7 14.0 3.3 0.0 0.0 Covered by earnings (x) 2.1 1.9 0.2 4.0 0.0 0.0 Return on total capital (%) 59.5 27.5 18.6 42.6 -0.5 1.6 Cash (£m) 103 73.1 139 189 318 256 Net debt (£m) -103 -33.5 -114 -166 1,474 1,493 Net assets (£m) 126 124 110 124 159 79.9 Net assets per share (p) 34.5 33.7 29.8 33.4 35.7 17.8 Source: company accounts. At least there appears to be breathing space. Notes in the accounts under “net debt” cite only £11 million of debt maturing in 2026 “with most of the debt maturing across 2027 to 2030. In addition to this, the group has access to a £200 million revolving credit facility, with £150 million available until 2028, additionally £50 million to December 2025.” Bulls can therefore speculate on scope to avoid or substantially mitigate any financial restructuring, if trading proceeds better like management entertains. More skeptically, it’ll be interesting to see how this share will struggle to remove its debt albatross. The net debt to adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) ratio had risen from 5.6x to 6.4x this year. An 18 October third-quarter update cited a leverage target below 3.5x by end-2026. No dividends will be resumed until that drops below 3x. A weak first-half year albeit second-half turnaround? Interim results, which included a £143 million net loss, initially looked disastrous, however £71 million of operating expenses were classed as exceptional and £111 million involved depreciation/amortis This was on like-for-like revenue 2% easier at £862 million. Management blamed UK retail down 8% but, given it represents near 70% of the group, you could say it shows gambling as not necessarily “addictive&rdq While management likes to focus on adjusted EBITDA, an £80 million net interest charge over six months alone compromises shareholder value. Yet the company proclaimed: “significant profitability expected in the second half, driven by the full period benefit of a £30 million cost-saving programme, more effective marketing focused on core customers, and enhanced product.” The 18 October Q3 update cited total revenue up only 3% like-for-like. However, there’s “no change to the expectation for the second half to be in line with the mid-term target of 5-9% year-on-year growth”. There was no specific mention of profit, although that’s a tad tricky perhaps in a near-term accounting sense. It would also have been good to see management back their words with share purchases, but there is yet to be any trading this year while the price has fallen. The CEO does own over two million, however. Yet Artemis Investment Management nearly doubled its stake to 10.4% in the wake of this update and last month raised it further to near 11.7%. This obviously could be averaging down yet they still consider Evoke warrants further commitment. It at least implies the situation is not going from bad to worse. Three hedge funds look to be closing short positions Such trading logic has applied also on the short side lately. Until earlier this year, Marshall Wace – an experienced manager at short-selling whose targets I keep aware of – had a short position equivalent to 1.1% of Evoke’s issued share capital. This has recently reduced to 0.49%, now below the disclosure threshold. Millennium International Management did raise its short, also to 1.1% as of 22 November, but three days later had cut this to 0.23%. Qube Research & Technologies has also been reducing, from 0.8% mid-October to 0.65% as of 25 November. Possibly their actions may have contributed to this share moving up, which obviously is not the same as it affirming improvement in the business. Improving sentiment is, however, affirmed by Deutsche Bank upgrading its stance just recently from “hold” to “buy”, albeit with a reduced target of 74p from 90p. It can be an intelligent time to buy an unfavoured share when short sellers are starting to close. Buying back can squeeze the market price higher, especially if recovery buyers are waiting for the chart to put in a low. If consensus – or guidance to those representing it – is fair, near £12 million net profit is expected for this year, equating to normalised earnings per share of 2.6p, rising to over £56 million in 2025, for earnings per share (EPS) over 14p. In this hopeful scenario the price/earnings multiple would be below five times. Avoided Labour’s tax grab Another reason for the share’s current support is the Budget – quite surprisingly – not raising taxation or taking any kind of tougher measures on gambling, despite protests about its effects on mental health and families. Moreover, the chancellor has also said future Budgets will not be as tough. Much will obviously depend on how the UK fiscal position evolves. Cynics may note the industry’s contributions to Labour Party coffers. Cutting to the chase: there obviously remains much uncertainty around Evoke and whether its commercial offerings can gain better traction and debt can be managed, so as to leave meaningful shareholder value. Its shares remain highly speculative, off-limits to conservative investors. Yet for experienced traders who can stomach risk, evidence certainly suggests sentiment at least is turning. It departs from my preference for proven intrinsic value, but I currently feel the odds starting to favour “buy”. Edmond Jackson is a freelance contributor and not a direct employee of interactive investor. |
Posted at 03/12/2024 14:00 by blackhorse23 Remember: Deutsche Bank issued strong BUY for EVOK just last week |
Posted at 27/11/2024 19:50 by pj84 Deutsche Bank bets on Evoke with a ‘buy’Deutsche Bank has upgraded Evoke (EVOK), formerly 888, after the business returned to growth and the gambling sector avoided any extra taxes in the Budget. Analyst Richard Stuber lifted his rating of the William Hill owner from ‘hold’ to ‘buy’ but reduced the target price from 90p to 74p. The shares gained 2.2%, or 1.1p, to 54.5p on Tuesday but have fallen 40% this year. The group returned to revenue growth in the third quarter, its first quarter of growth since early 2022. ‘This was also the second-consecutive quarter of growth for its UK online division, which is arguably its most important division given the lower structural growth of retail and the diversity of geographies comprising international,&rsquo The second factor that had stopped Stuber from upgrading the stock had been the overhang from the Budget. ‘Fortunately for the sector, and Evoke in particular, the UK Budget did not include increases to gambling taxes,’ he said. ‘The consultation next year to bring remote gambling into a single tax merely reiterated the previous government’s commitment.’ |
Posted at 21/11/2024 21:30 by blackhorse23 EVOK debt actually assest , they have bought William hill for 2 billion & they already have paid off 25% of debt in 2 years comfortably , WH has own valuation over 2 billions pounds... EVOK valuation is 220m now .... 2 billion pounds worth WH is free , lol .... EVOKE only ONLINE BUSINESS valued 450p per share during COVID before WH buying, market will recognise all of this |
Posted at 21/11/2024 10:32 by blackhorse23 There is gaming investors in USA who always interested in this stock. EVOK got offer 700m last year but rejected because of too low offer . There is huge opportunity to make money in here |
Posted at 19/11/2024 08:16 by blackhorse23 unfair MCAP of gambling stocks 1. EVOK , revenue £1.7b??mcap £230m2. ENT , Revenue £4b??mcap 4.9b 3. FLTR , revenue £8b??mcap £38b |
Posted at 24/10/2024 19:34 by wad collector Blackhorse I am a bit confused about your postings here, last week you were ramping itBlackhorse23 - 15 Oct 2024 - 16:26:42 - 588 of 712 EVOK........Old 888 Group - EVOK I think it’s massively undervalued stock , during covid share price was 490p while revenue 600m but now revenues 1.7 billion share price 55p , doesn’t make any sense. Likely reverse to 490p soon |
Posted at 18/10/2024 09:32 by martinmc123 Evoke issued a solid and encouraging Q3 trading update FY trading update this morning confirming that the business continues to turn around. Revenue was up 3% to £417m. This was the first quarter of year-over-year growth since Q1 2022 supported by market share gains in key international markets. The headline figures included good underlying trends including online revenue growth of 8% and 10% growth in gaming, which was partially offset by particularly customer-friendly sports results during September, which impacted Group revenue by approximately £17m. There was no change to FY guidance or H2 guidance which is expected to be in line with the mid-term target of 5-9% year-over-year growth with and adjusted EBITDA margin...from WealthOraclewealthoracle.co.uk/d |
Posted at 17/10/2024 07:13 by blackhorse23 evoke (LSE: EVOK), one of the world's leading betting and gaming companies with internationally renowned brands including William Hill, 888 and Mr Green, will announce a trading update for the three months ended 30 September 2024 on Friday 18 October 2024 at 7. |
Posted at 18/7/2024 07:12 by window kleaner Not looking good-link in a header, but for future ref. EVOKE- H1 2024 Trading Update Online revenue returned to growth in Q2 but behind plan leading to revised FY24 expectations. Significant strategic and operational progress supports future profitable growth in H2 and beyond with no change to existing FY25 expectations, medium-term targets or value creation plan evoke (LSE: EVOK), one of the world's leading betting and gaming companies with internationally renowned brands including William Hill, 888 and Mr Green, today announces a trading update for the three- and six-months ending 30 June 2024 ("Q2-24" and "H1-24" respectively). Financial highlights (unaudited)1: · Q2-24 revenue of approximately £431m, broadly stable both sequentially and versus the prior year: · UK Online: continued improvement in trends with revenue up +3%, including +6% growth in gaming driven by continued improvements in product and promotions. Sports held back by continued knock-on impacts from marketing and proposition changes in 2023, as well as lower than expected returns from Q1 marketing and promotional activity. This has been addressed with changes in leadership and commercial strategy, with our new price and promotions approach seeing good early traction and strong results from the launch of new betbuilder product · International: revenue up +2% (+4% in constant currency) with double-digit growth in the core markets of Italy, Spain and Denmark, which now represent approximately 60% of the division. This was offset by reduced revenues from optimise markets as the focus switches to profitability and cash generation, including exiting the US B2C business · UK Retail: revenue stable in H1 2024 compared to H2 2023, but 8% lower than 2023, with a strong comparative period. Plans in place to address performance with a change in leadership, along with new future proof gaming machines rolling out from Q4 2024 and completing in Q1 2025, together with an improved SSBT product, payments experience, and sports broadcast offering · Adjusted EBITDA Margin for the first half is expected to be approximately 13-14%, primarily driven by phasing of costs with marketing costs heavily weighted to the first half, together with lower than expected revenue and the timing of cost saving actions taken · Successful refinancing in May 2024 to repay the Euro TLA and replace with GBP fixed rate notes, improving the debt profile by extending the maturity of £400m by two years out to 2030; improving the fixed/floating mix; and more closely aligning the debt currency mix to underlying cash generation · Cash at 30 June 2024 of approximately £116m, with ample total liquidity of nearly £300m including RCF Strategic progress: · New strategy and value creation plan launched in March 2024, with name change to evoke plc effective from May 2024 · Strategy focused on mid and long-term profitable growth and value creation by investing in the Group's capabilities and transforming the business, centred around a clear customer value proposition and distinct competitive advantages · Significant progress in H1-24 to build enhanced capabilities and drive competitive advantage: · Operational excellence driven by data insights and intelligent automation: fundamentally re-organised the Group's operating model to streamline decision making and increase effectiveness, which will deliver the full previously announced £30m of targeted cost efficiencies in FY24. Enhanced data-driven approach to customer segmentation and personalised promotions, alongside bringing in new personnel from leading AI powered businesses · A winning culture: completed the restructure of the executive leadership team, with 9 out of 11 roles new since Oct-23, bringing in exceptional talent from within and outside the industry. Further changes to wider leadership team as the new c-suite builds out high-performing teams to drive a step-change in execution capabilities · Leading distinct brands and products: completed the repositioning of the Mr Green brand, and well advanced with refining the William Hill customer value proposition. Product pipeline reviewed and adapted to focus on value creation, with new betbuilder product launched in time for Euros and proving successful, with further product improvements set to land in the second half of the year and beyond Outlook: · H1-24 Adjusted EBITDA approximately £35-40m behind plan, which will flow through to FY24 expectations · Positive outlook for revenue with H2 2024 revenue growth expected to be in line with medium-term guidance of 5-9%2 · Cost optimisation programme executed delivering planned £30m in-year savings, weighted to the second half, with c.£5-10m incremental benefit in H2 compared to H1 · Marketing phasing always planned to be H1 weighted, with marketing costs expected to be approximately £35-40m lower in H2 compared to H1 · The above factors, together with the operating leverage on expected revenue growth, mean profitability in H2 2024 is expected to increase significantly, with H2 2024 Adjusted EBITDA Margin expected to be approximately 21% · No change to existing FY25 expectations, including Adjusted EBITDA margin of at least 20%, with unchanged medium-term targets of 5-9% revenue growth per year, c.100bps of Adjusted EBITDA Margin expansion per year, and leverage of below 3.5x by the end of 2026 Per Widerström, CEO of evoke, commented: "We are focused on mid and long-term profitable growth and value creation and during the first half we have made bold, decisive changes to improve almost every area of the business. We are undertaking a complete reset and transformation of the business, and the scale of change is significant, but necessary. This transformation will take time but will enhance operational efficiency, leading to a bigger, more profitable and more cash generative business in the future. Our strategy defines what good looks like and how we get there, and while no journey is ever straightforward, we have learnt a lot already so far this year as we pursue our goals. Whilst it is disappointing that the first half financials are behind our plan, the underlying health of the business is getting stronger, and the corrective actions we have already taken make us even more confident that our strategic approach is sound and will achieve sustainable success. I am really pleased with the strategic progress we have made so far and I'm confident this will set us up for profitable growth in H2 2024 and beyond as we continue to invest for the mid and long-term with high conviction. Our plans for 2025 and beyond are unchanged and the strategic and operational progress we have made during the first half give me increased confidence about delivering our value creation plan." Sell side analyst and investor presentation Per Widerström (Chief Executive Officer), Sean Wilkins (Chief Financial Officer), and Vaughan Lewis (Chief Strategy Officer) will host a presentation for sell-side analysts and investors today at 09.00am (BST). Live audio webcast link: hxxps://brrmedia.new To register to participate in Q&A please contact evoke@hudsonsandler. A replay will be available on our website shortly after: hxxps://www.evokeplc Notes 1 Based on draft unaudited financial results 2 Assumes normalised win margins for the remainder of the year |
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