Evoke plc (EVOK) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen and welcome to the Evoke plc Annual General Meeting. [Operator Instructions] I'd now like to hand over to Jon Mendelson, Chairman. Good morning.

Good morning. It's now just after 9:00 a.m. here in London and I'm delighted to welcome you to the 2025 Annual General Meeting of Evoke. I am Lord Mendelson, Chairman of Evoke. I'm joined at today's meeting by fellow nonexecutive directors, Anne de Kerckhove, Mark Summerfield, Limor Ganot, Andrea Gisle Joosen, Ori Shaked and Susan Standiford. Susan, who joined the business in November 2024. We are also joined today by our Executive Board Directors, our Chief Executive Officer, Per Widerstrom; and our Chief Financial Officer, Sean Wilkins. Also attending are Dela Cruz and Jon Killingley on behalf of the company's auditors, EY. I'm also pleased to welcome the shareholders who have chosen to follow today's proceedings over the online platform, Investor Meet Company. Shareholders are invited to submit any questions through the online platform and we will aim to respond to all questions relevant to the business of the meeting, including those which have been submitted in advance. Shareholders not able to attend in person and wishing to vote at the meeting have been strongly encouraged to do so by completing a form of proxy or form of direction as appropriate. Shareholders are not able to vote over the online platform. In accordance with the company's Articles of Association, every shareholder should have one vote for each share of which they are the registered holder. If shares are held in joint names, then only the first named shareholder may vote. Regarding shareholders who have sent a form of proxy to the company's registrars appointing me to vote on their behalf, I will vote on each motion in the manner instructed on their forms of proxy, although the form is left bank at my discretion. Votes cast will be verified against the register of members. And now to the formalities. With the necessary quorum being present, I declare the Annual General Meeting open. Resolutions 1 to 17 are set out and explained in the Notice of Meeting, which was made available to you, our shareholders, on the 25th of April. I propose that the notice of meeting to be taken as read and I now give formal notice that voting on each of the resolutions as set out in the notice of meeting will be via a poll. I appoint our Company Secretary, Elizabeth Bisby, to act as scrutineer and I now declare the poll open and request that all shareholders present complete their polling cards. I should also remind you that a vote withheld is not a vote in law and will not be counted in the calculation of the votes for or against a resolution. Only shareholders or their proxies may vote and the meeting can only consider matters detailed in the notice of meeting. The poll will close at the conclusion of the meeting and the final result will be announced via the London Stock Exchange and posted on our company website as soon as practicable after the meeting. Now shareholders are invited to submit any questions over the online platform now whilst the poll is open. Whilst questions are submitted, I would like to give a very brief overview of some key areas of the company's important progress since last year's AGM. 2024 marked the beginning of a new era for the business with a refreshed strategy to create value for our shareholders. The transformation of our business since last year's AGM has been extensive and I'm confident that the bold and decisive changes made have strengthened our foundations, positioning Evoke for sustainable, profitable growth and long-term success. Led by a strengthened executive team, the business continues to evolve at pace, implementing bold actions to enhance long-term shareholder value. Whilst no transformation is ever without its challenges, the group's sharpened focus on execution has positioned Evoke for sustained growth and the Board was pleased to see the group returning to revenue growth in the second half of last year, a trend that has continued into 2025. There is, of course, more to do but Evoke can now look forward confidently as a global leader with a clear strategy to drive sustainable, profitable growth. At the same time as ensuring the group continues to execute its strategy, the Board remains highly committed to strong corporate governance. We were pleased to welcome Susan Standiford as an Independent Non-Executive Director, a member of the Audit and Risk Committee in November 2024. Susan brings 30 years of product, technology and leadership experience from various industries. I am pleased, therefore, that going forward, Susan will chair the Board's newly formed Technology Committee. Susan will be joined on this committee by Limor Ganot and Ori Shaked. In a world where technology is evolving at breakneck speed and in an industry where technology leadership is a core driver of success, this committee will serve 2 core purposes for the Board. Governance and future insights. From a governance perspective, it will focus on providing transparency and insight into product technology, data and operational initiatives. And from a future insights perspective, the committee will facilitate the education of the Board and executive teams on the industry and global trends that will have a long-term effect on the group's competitive advantages. This is an important development in our governance structure and I'm looking forward to the contributions from our Technology Committee over the coming years.

With that quick overview of our 2024 progress and an update on our Board, I will now review if we receive any questions which are relevant to the business of the meeting. So I have some presubmitted questions. I have one, which relates to whether or not we are pursuing -- the statement of opinion of whether or not we are being sufficiently aggressive on customer growth -- customer acquisition growth as opposed to efficiency and cost control. I would just state that the company has got a firm focus on all of those elements. We are very keen to ensure that we can return to growth with a much greater and stronger acquisition of our customers, stronger retention and looking at growth. But at the same time, as adapting to a modern business, we are looking at all areas of the business of how we can remodel it and areas of cost control. And looking at our -- how are you prioritizing debt reduction? Are you considering selling assets? We have indeed sold some assets as reported in the annual report. But our focus at the moment is really on redeveloping the business. We have no further plans and if we do have plans, we will be pleased to announce those. And a question on whether or not we have had any material impact on -- in the lapping of euros 2024. We are not yet through the period where the euros had the greatest impact. We will update that in the due course and in report on the company performance later in the year. A question on the share price performance. And indeed, we are very clear that the share price performance, we hope will improve as we continue to report on progress towards our goals. We believe the share price currently materially undervalues what the company's position is. And of course, that is reflected in the reports from the industry analysts. If there are no more questions -- there are no more questions. And so I would just like to thank you all for joining and for your continued support. That formally concludes matters and the meeting, I now declare as closed.

Thank you to the Board of Evoke. If I could please ask investors not to close this session as we'll now automatically redirect you for your feedback. Thank you very much indeed for joining today's annual [Audio Gap]