Record online quarters in Spain and UK see Bally’s Intralot accelerating through tax increases

UK remote gaming duty increased from 21 per cent to 40 per cent, effective 1 April 2026, and carried an impact of approximately €34m in Q2

Record quarters in Spain and the UK’s online gaming sectors, Bally’s Intralot generated revenues of €544.2m and AEBITDA of €184.8m in the first half of the year, with margin at 34 per cent. Performance was affected by market seasonality in Turkey and the timing of US jackpot activity, with no major jackpots recorded in the period.

The consolidation of Bally’s International Interactive contributed €377.6m to group revenue and €132.m to AEBITDA. UK revenue momentum continued to build in Q2, with constant currency growth accelerating to 11.6 per cent year-on-year from 10.5 per cent in Q1 and NGR reaching an all-time high, underscoring sustained strength in underlying trading performance.

The UK remote gaming duty increased from 21 per cent to 40 per cent, effective 1 April 2026, and carried an impact of approximately €34m in Q2; approximately 65 per cent of the tax impact was mitigated through revenue growth and operating cost optimisation.

Bally’s Intralot’s CEO Robeson Reeves noted: “H1 2026 delivered Group Revenue of €544.2m and AEBITDA of €184.8m, at a 34 per cent margin. Our UK online business reached an all-time high in net gaming revenue, with constant-currency growth accelerating to 11.6 per cent year-on-year in the second quarter from 10.5 per cent in the first, in the same quarter UK remote gaming duty rose from 21 per cent to 40 per cent. We mitigated approximately 65 per cent of the resulting €34m quarterly impact through revenue growth and operating cost optimisation, with the remaining levers identified and within our control. Bally’s International Interactive contributed €377.6m of revenue at a 35.2 per cent AEBITDA margin, the capability underpinning our proposed combination with evoke, which its shareholders approved on 17 August with 99.63 per cent of votes cast at the General Meeting. Our General Meeting has been scheduled for September 18. We continue to expect the scheme to become effective in the fourth quarter of 2026 or the first quarter of 2027.”

He added: “The second quarter of 2026 is the first full quarter under the new regime. Here is the test result. UK online revenue grew 11.6 per cent year-on-year on a constant currency basis in the second quarter. That is an acceleration from the 10.5 per cent year-on-year growth achieved in the first quarter. For the half, U.K. online growth was 11.1 per cent. Our UK business delivered an all-time high in net gaming revenue in the quarter in which its tax rate nearly doubled.”

“We did not hold the line; we accelerated,” Reeves added. “Year-on-year player volumes held. We did not lose customers to competitors, and we did not lose them to the unregulated market. Spain also delivered an all-time high in the second quarter, with online revenue up 15.1 per cent year-on-year. Growth is the thing that matters most in this business because everything else, mitigation, deleveraging, the transaction, the returns we can make, is downstream of it. 

In April 2026, Bally’s Intralot announced the award of a 15-year electronic gaming machine monitoring license in Victoria, Australia, and a new contract of up to 12 years with the State Lottery of Chile. In May, the Group announced a new contract with Hellenic Lotteries in Greece, and in June, its selection as OLG’s (Ontario Lottery & Gaming Corporation) new lottery technology solution provider.

On June 5, 2026, Bally’s Intralot Group announced its binding offer to acquire evoke plc, with regulatory
approvals from the relevant competition and gaming authorities currently underway. Shareholders’ approval took place at the evoke plc general meeting held on 17 August 2026, with 99.63% of votes cast in favor of the transaction. The next milestone is Bally’s Intralot’s general meeting scheduled for the 18th of September 2026.

Reeves said: ” A number of the conditions relating to antitrust and regulatory approvals have now been satisfied, and work on the remainder is progressing. The court will hold the sanction hearing once every closing condition is satisfied or waived. As we said on the 17th of August, we continue to expect the sanction hearing and the scheme becoming effective in the fourth quarter of 2026 or the first quarter of 2027. Until that point, evoke plc and Bally’s Intralot remain two entirely separate, independent and competing businesses, and we are running them that way.”