Evolution ready to reopen Brazil Studio despite betting ban

Martin Carlesund, the CEO of live casino provider Evolution, stated that the business may re-open its Brazilian live casino studio, despite of the worry following the re-election of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and the betting ban. Carlesund called the shutting down of the casino “extremely regrettable” and disapproved of the abrupt change in Brazil’s newly introduced regulatory system. On October 5, the studio was closed due to the introduction of Provisional Measure 1.394/2026, an edict banning online sports betting and casino gambling. Carlesund informed that, while this closure would lead to a very busy fourth quarter, he did not want to make any predictions about possible changes in the situation. Lula won the presidential runoff against Flávio Bolsonaro on October 25 by receiving 51.76% of votes. Despite his promise to keep the ban, the ultimate status will depend on Congress and the court’s decisions. Congress has until November 23 to vote for the provisional measure, and, meanwhile, Supreme Court Justice Luiz Fux is to deal with the lawsuits filed by the industry associations of ANJL and IBJR. He told analysts: If Brazil reopens its market, we are ready to accelerate. Q4 revenue impact remains unclear Carlesund did not provide any firm answers to the question of whether revenue from Brazilian markets would fall to zero in Q4, giving an explanation that it is not differentiated in its business activities by country. He called the idea that the closure could have a short-term benefit for Evolution inappropriate. He indicated that one could hardly compare the Brazilian restrictions with earlier measures in other countries, primarily because the operators purchased five-year licenses. Given the uncertainty, Evolution is maintaining its year-end margin target. The company’s year-to-date EBITDA margin is 65.7% compared to the target of 66%. As for Q3, the organization reported revenues of €526.1 million, which is an increase of 3.7% YOY, adjusted EBITA of €345.9 million. The revenue from the remote games was increased by 10.1%, while the revenues from the live casino rose by 2.6%.