Evoke reported £406 million of unaudited revenue for the quarter ended 30 September 2026, down 7% from a year earlier. Its 23 October trading update also gives a smaller, adjusted decline: 2% at constant currency, excluding the effect of about 270 fewer retail shops.
The two percentages answer different questions. The reported result includes the change in the estate; the comparable measure adjusts the prior period for closed shops and uses 2026 exchange rates for both periods.
A smaller decline after changing the comparison
The five-percentage-point gap between 7% and 2% cannot be assigned entirely to closures: the calculation also changes the currency basis. Nor can the £406 million total be divided by 270 to estimate lost sales per shop. That would divide group revenue by a change in shop count, not measure those shops’ revenue.
Evoke attributed a further headwind of roughly one to two percentage points to sports results favourable to customers. It described revenue as broadly stable after normalising sports margins as well. That is management’s adjusted comparison, rather than a replacement for the reported total.
Percentages on different bases are not separate cash losses to add together. A reader looking for profit also needs costs below revenue. Our GGR and NGR explainer explains why the label on a revenue figure cannot establish earnings.
The deal still has conditions
Chief executive Per Widerström linked shop closures and pressure on jobs to higher industry taxation. That causal explanation is his assessment.
Evoke said the recommended acquisition by Bally’s Intralot remained conditional, with completion expected in late 2026 or early 2027. Shareholder resolutions had passed and most regulatory approvals had arrived; remaining conditions still mattered.
An expected completion window is not a completed transaction. For now, the update leaves readers with the reported quarterly revenue, management’s adjustments and a deal timetable that has yet to become an outcome.
