888 Holdings is to become Evoke - but why?

888 Holdings plc is to be called Evoke plc in future. This was announced by the billion-dollar gambling company a few weeks ago when discussing the past financial year. But why does the company want to change its name at all?

It was only in mid-January that we at GambleJoe reported on the change of name of the Espelkamp-based Gauselmann Group. Since this year, the long-established company has been known as the Merkur Group. According to the official press release, one of the aims was to "reflect the charisma of the Merkur brand in the company name". As was announced a few weeks ago, the competitor 888 is now also planning to change its name. Before the name change can go ahead, however, the shareholders still have to give their approval at the annual general meeting.

CEO of 888 Holdings wants to push through name change

Per Widerström has only been CEO of 888 Holdings plc since last autumn. When publishing the financial figures for the 2023 calendar year a few weeks ago, Widerström spoke several times about his goal of placing the "laser focus" on the core business in the UK, Denmark, Italy and Spain. To this end, he and his team have been working intensively on a new value creation plan in recent months.

In particular, there are also plans to change the name of the Group, which is currently officially known as 888 Holdings plc. If Widerström has his way, the company, which was founded in 1997, will be called Evoke plc in future. The English word "evoke" means something like "to conjure up" or "to evoke". However, before the name change can be finalised, the gaming group's shareholders must give their approval at the Annual General Meeting scheduled for May.

Why should 888 Holdings be called Evoke in future?

According to the Gibraltar-based group, the renaming is intended to emphasise that not only the 888 brand belongs to the listed gambling company, but also Mr Green and William Hill, among others.

888 Holdings can certainly be satisfied with the business figures for the past year. While revenue of GBP 1.24 billion (approx. EUR 1.45 billion) was generated in 2022, revenue in 2023 already totalled around GBP 1.7 billion. However, it should be noted that the acquisition of William Hill took place in 2023, meaning that considerable revenue was added from the brand. By contrast, sales in the existing operating business fell by 8% in the same period.

Even before this, however, turnover at one of the best-known gaming groups was largely positive. In February 2022, for example, we reported that 888 Holdings had generated record revenue.

The share price of 888 Holdings plc is currently the equivalent of EUR 0.97 (as at 12 April 2024). In a 1-year trend, the share price rose by around 46%. In a 6-month comparison, however, it fell by 3.5%. It will be interesting to see whether the shareholders will vote in favour of the name change or block it at the upcoming Annual General Meeting.

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