evoke has seen its revenue increase by 1% year-on-year in the first quarter of its year, reaching £437m.

The betting and gambling firm, which owns brands including William Hill, 888 and Mr Green, found that in the three months to 31 March, its UK and Ireland online revenue dropped by 1%, as its continued growth in gaming was offset by reduced sports revenue.

Its retail revenue also fell by 6% as its gaming revenue increase growth was hit by a decline in betting impacted by both stakes and a lower win margin year-on-year.

evoke said this figure is set to improve over the course of the year after the company completed a rollout of 5,000 new gambling cabinets into this division in mid-March.

However, in its international division, evoke’s revenue increased by 11%, with continued double-digit growth driven by strong performances across core markets, including "significant" year-on-year growth in Romania after its acquisition of Winner.ro.

evoke added that in line with its focus on "sustainable, profitable growth", its Q1 adjusted EBITDA was “significantly higher” year-on-year, reaching over £330m, which is in line with its guidance range set out in its full-year results last month.

Chief executive officer at evoke, Per Widerström, said: "The Q1 performance is consistent with the update provided at our full year results, with improvements in April supporting revenue growth in the year-to-date of approximately 4%. This reflects the Group's significantly more efficient operating model and our clear focus on creating value through sustainable, profitable growth.

"We are building momentum in the right areas of the business with particularly strong growth across our International Core Markets. Whilst the UK&I Online and Retail performance was behind where we wanted to be in Q1, we have moved swiftly to improve some of the underlying drivers of the performance and have been seeing stronger trends in April. With improved customer lifecycle management, a clear customer value proposition, new retail gaming cabinets, and an exciting product pipeline, we remain highly confident in our market position and the growth profile of the business."

The figures come after all Mr Green markets were successfully migrated onto the 888 platform.

evoke has also announced a further cost efficiencies of between £15m and £25m in its 2024 financial year, which are set to be delivered in the current financial year.

Investment director at AJ Bell, Russ Mould, added: "There is enough in this latest statement to suggest CEO Per Widerström may be making some progress with his turnaround efforts at the gambling firm.

"International markets were strong and there was an appreciable increase in earnings while investment in new gaming cabinets seems to be paying off. The company has also been upgrading its technology platform and online infrastructure – important background work which could yield results in the longer term.

"On the negative side, the online business in UK and Ireland and betting shops saw revenue declines. Fewer active players for web-based gambling were partly evened out by a large increase in average revenue per user. Regulatory pressures remain an ongoing issue for evoke and other operators. Having retreated from the US market, after struggling to build sufficient scale across the Atlantic, evoke is missing a growth driver enjoyed by some of its UK-listed peers."

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