Gear4music (Holdings) PLC Trading Update (4787T)

TIDMG4M

RNS Number : 4787T

Gear4music (Holdings) PLC

06 January 2017

6 January 2017

Gear4music (Holdings) plc

Trading Update

Gear4music (Holdings) plc ("Gear4music" or "the Group"), the largest UK based online retailer of musical instruments and music equipment, today announces a trading update for the four months from 1 September 2016 to 31 December 2016.

 
 GBP'000          4 months to    4 months to   % change 
                  31 December    31 December 
                         2016           2015 
--------------  -------------  -------------  --------- 
 UK sales              15,019         11,608       +29% 
--------------  -------------  -------------  --------- 
 Europe and 
  Rest of the 
  World sales           9,365          4,082      +129% 
--------------  -------------  -------------  --------- 
 Total sales           24,384         15,690       +55% 
--------------  -------------  -------------  ---------

Highlights

-- 55% increase in total like-for-like sales following continued strong growth into the UK and Europe

   --     63% growth in sales of Own-brand products supported strong gross margins

-- Active Customer numbers up by 53% to 324,000 at 31 December 2016, compared with 31 December 2015

-- Swedish distribution centre now active. German distribution centre on-track to be operational by the end of the financial year

Gear4music's Chief Executive Officer, Andrew Wass, said:

"We continued to deliver a strong sales performance during the last four months including the festive period, and with year to date growth of 63%, the Group remains on-track to deliver annual revenues in-line with the Board's expectations.

"We were particularly pleased with our Own-brand sales performance during the period, which was driven by improving conversion rates and investment in additional stock. As a result of this and a controlled overhead cost base, the Board is now confident that Gear4music is well placed to deliver profits for the full year that will be ahead of the increased expectations signalled at the half year stage.

"As the business continues its programme of investment into distribution centres, websites, systems, products and people, we remain confident of delivering on our growth strategy."

- Ends -

For further information, please contact

Gear4music +44 20 3128 8100

Andrew Wass, Chief Executive Officer

Chris Scott, Chief Financial Officer

Panmure Gordon +44 20 7886 2500

(Financial Adviser, Nominated Adviser and Broker)

Andrew Godber / Peter Steel - Investment Banking

Erik Anderson / Tom Salvesen - Corporate Broking

MHP Communications (Financial PR) +44 20 3128 8100

Andrew Leach

Simon Hockridge

Pete Lambie

Background to Gear4music

Operating from an office, showroom and distribution centre in York, and distribution centres in Sweden and Germany, the Group sells Own-brand musical instruments and music equipment alongside premium third party brands including Fender, Yamaha and Gibson, to customers ranging from beginners to musical enthusiasts and professionals, in the UK, Europe and, more recently, into the Rest of the World.

Having developed its own ecommerce platform, with multilingual, multicurrency and fully responsive design websites covering 19 countries, the Group has rapidly expanded its database and continues to build its overseas presence.

This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of Regulation (EU) No 596/2014.

This information is provided by RNS

The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

END

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