1,700 live tables, Over €2 billion in revenue for Evolution

In his comments accompanying Evolution’s just released year-end results, CEO Martin Carlesund called 2024 a year of challenges.

But despite the challenges, the company managed to crack the €2 billion revenue milestone and make a profit of €1.24 billion at a healthy 56% profit margin. Most companies would dream of being similarly challenged.

Full results can be read here. Below is are some key takeaways from the results.

Group revenue tops €2 billion

Group revenue came in at €2.063 billion, up 15% on the previous year. Group profit was also up 2023, but profit margin dropped from 59.6% to 56.2%.

Despite the acquisition of RNG game providers NetEnt, Red Tiger, BTG and Nolimit City, group revenues are still dominated by Evolution’s core live games.

Looking at the segment numbers, revenue from live games comprised over 85% of total revenue for the year. This proportion showed a growth trend over the year, increasing to 86% for the last quarter.

Turning to the regional summary, the company enjoyed consistent growth in Europe, LatAm and North America, but Asia flatlined during 2024.

Over the last few years Asia has been a strong growth engine for Evolution. The slowdown in 2024 was less about demand for their games and more about technical issues – cyber-attacks more specifically. This was of the key challenges flagged by the CEO.

Evolution’s 2024 Challenges

Cyber attacks targeting Evolution’s video distribution in Asia markets were a persistent problem throughout 2024 and one that will continue into 2025. The company has had to throw significant resources at mitigating the issue and this is expected to eat into margins during 2025. Margin guidance has been adjusted accordingly.

Their other major operational hurdle for 2024 was the much publicised industrial action in their Georgia studio. The Tbilisi, Georgia studio is one of Evolution’s largest, and constant labour disruptions there had a material impact the company’s live table capacity during the year.

The slow but steady introduction of iGaming regulations and transition of markets from grey to regulated was also mentioned as a headwind. As markets regulate, taxes are introduced and margins for operators and providers are eroded.  Evolution’s proportion of revenues from regulated markets continues to grow as the regional summary above shows.

The year also saw more resource dedicated to cracking down on copy-cat providers infringing on Evolution IP.

Evolution’s 2024 Highlights

Despite lost table capacity in Georgia, Evolution managed to end the year with 100 more active tables than when the year began. This was achieved by expanding table capacity in existing studios, as well as new studio launches (eg Czech Republic studio), which added 300 tables.

A studio expansion is underway in Colombia. New studios in Brazil and the Philippines are also under construction. 2025 will see 3-4 new studios going live.

A strong lineup of new game releases was credited as a contributor to the record results. An even more ambitious new game roadmap is planned for 2025.