Evoke said revenue for the first quarter to March grew 1% and reiterated expectations for an acceleration in growth from the second quarter onwards.

In support of its upbeat view, the Mr Green and William Hill brand owner noted that as of 22 April, revenue growth for the year had accelerated to approximately 4%.

Full-year revenue growth is expected to be consistent with the group’s mid-term target range of between 5% and 7%.

The shares briefly moved into positive territory before settling back to 47.8p, a fall of 0.3%

CEO Per Widerstrom commented: ‘While Q1 revenue was below our 5% to 9% annual growth target, adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation) is significantly higher year-on-year, with last twelve months adjusted EBITDA reaching more than £330 million.

‘This reflects the group’s significantly more efficient operating model and our clear focus on creating value through sustainable, profitable growth.

‘Whilst the UK&I Online and Retail performance was behind where we wanted to be in Q1, we have moved swiftly to improve some of the underlying drivers of the performance and have been seeing stronger trends in April.’

By contrast, international markets continued double-digit revenue growth driven by strong performances in the group’s core markets with significant growth in Romania following the acquisition of Winner.ro.