Gear4Music debut figures show revenue boost

Gear4Music has reported interim results showing a surge in revenue as chief executive Andrew Wass hailed the firm’s progress since its floatation earlier this year.

The group floated on AIM in June, raising £10m of gross proceeds to invest in the continuing growth of the business.

In the six months to 31 August 2015, revenue increased 43 per cent on a like-for-like basis during the period to £12.49m, with 38 per cent sales growth in its core UK market and 62 per cent in Europe.

Sales growth in the first quarter of the current financial year was 40 per cent compared with the corresponding period last year, accelerating to 45 per cent growth in the second quarter following the IPO.

Gross profit increased by £973,000 to £3.3m, although the business posted an underlying net loss for the period (excluding IPO costs) of £497,000.

Chief executive Andrew Wass said: “I am delighted to report our debut interim results as a plc which show good strategic progress as we continue to grow our presence as a leading online retailer of musical instruments and equipment.

“We are seeing increasing appetite from customers as we improve our branded and own-brand product offering, our website interface, back-end systems and service levels, both in the UK and across Europe.

“Since our IPO we have accelerated investment across the business – in the ecommerce platform, in stock and in people – to ensure we are strongly positioned to deliver on our growth strategy.

“The group continues to trade with good momentum and in line with the Board’s expectations and is well placed heading into the key Christmas trading period.”