A decent tip-off is always a favourite among gamblers and investors, if, indeed, they are not one and the same thing, and so when the chief executive and chairman of Evoke snapped up shares in the William Hill owner, many in the market took the hint.
Per Widerstrom, who became chief executive of Evoke, formerly 888, in October, bought 900,000 shares at 55.1p each, worth £495,900, while Lord Mendelsohn, the Labour peer who is the group’s non-executive chairman, picked up 250,000 shares for 55.2p apiece, worth £138,000. Limor Ganot, a non-executive director, also bought shares, in her case worth £48,057.
The boardroom buy-up was seen as a sign of the directors’ confidence in the gambling group, which this week reported a first-half loss of £143 million caused by a sharp drop in its underlying earnings and the impact of accounting charges and finance costs relating to its £2 billion debt-duelled takeover of William Hill.
The move sparked a recovery in Evoke’s shares, which had fallen by almost a third since the start of the year, by 6¼p, or 11.4 per cent, to 61½p.
The gambling sector has been abuzz with takeover talk, mainly around Flutter Entertainment being in exclusive talks to buy Playtech’s Italian business. As a result, Playtech has enjoyed its best weekly performance since October 2021, picking up another 22p, or 3.5 per cent, in the latest session to settle at 646p.
Playtech has enjoyed its best weekly performance on the London stock market since October 2021
ALEXANDRE ROTENBERG/ALAMY LIVE NEWS
Investors moved into Entain, too, pushing the Ladbrokes owner to the top of the FTSE 100 risers’ board. That was thanks to an upgrade from analysts at Goldman Sachs, who argued that, after a period of significant share price underperformance and a reset of consensus expectations, its “valuation now better reflects the risk-reward”. The shares closed up 17p, or 2.7 per cent, at 638¼p.
Despite a downbeat finish to the week for the FTSE 100, which halted a five-day winning streak by declining 35.94 points, or 0.4 per cent, to 8,311.41, London’s top tier delivered its best weekly performance since early May, rising by 143.31points, or 1.8 per cent, as fears about a possible recession in the United States were dispelled by economic data. The FTSE 250 shed 45.25 points, or 0.2 per cent, to 21,048.91, but came away with a weekly gain of 423.73 points, or 2.1 per cent.
Holding back the Footsie were property stocks, including Rightmove, the online property portal, which slid by 15¼p, or 2.8 per cent, to 532p as investors engaged in some profit-taking. Berkeley Group, the housebuilder, fell 140p, or 2.6 per cent, to £51.75.
A resurgent pound against the dollar helped to depress the Footsie, many of whose constituents generate significant earnings overseas. They include Diageo, which declined by 37p, or 1.5 per cent, to £24.83½ and Ashtead, which closed down 98p, or 1.9 per cent, at £52.10.
Moving the other way was Burberry, which improved 15¼p, or 2.3 per cent, to 686½p as new data showed retail sales in Britain had grown in July. Watches of Switzerland ticked up 6p, or 1.6 per cent, to 391½p.
Some of the goldminers received a lift after prices of the metal reached a new record high of $2,487, including Hochschild Mining, which added 5¾p, or 3.4 per cent, to 179p, while Endeavour Mining edged up 14p, or 0.9 per cent, to £15.90.
Wall Street report
On Wall Street indices ended on a positive note, recording their best weekly gains of the year so far. The Dow Jones industrial average, up 96.70 points, or 0.2 per cent, to 40,659.76 on the day, up 2.9 per cent over the week, while the S&P 500 added 11.03 points, or 0.2 per cent, to 5,554.25, for a weekly rise of 3.9 per cent. The Nasdaq outshone them all, up 37.22 points, or 0.2 per cent, to 17,631.72, for a gain of 5.3 per cent over the five days.
