REG - Gear4music - Trading Update

Gear4music (HOLDINGS)Announcement

21/01/2025 07:00

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RNS Number : 0223U  Gear4music (Holdings) PLC  21 January 2025

21 January 2025

 

Gear4music (Holdings) plc

Trading Update

Peak season trading in-line with Board expectations

 

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 three months to 31 December 2024.

 

 £m                                        3m to 31 Dec 2024  3m to 31 Dec 2023  % change on FY24 Q3
 UK revenue                                29.7               26.2               +13%
 European and Rest of the World revenue    19.3               20.2               (4%)
 Total revenue                             49.0               46.4               +6%

 

FY25 Q3 Highlights

 

-     6% revenue growth represents further positive momentum in a
challenging consumer environment

-     Strong gross margin at 28.1% (FY24 Q3: 28.2%; FY23 Q3: 25.6%)
reflects continued pricing discipline

-     Gross profit of £13.7m (FY24 Q3: £13.1m) was £0.6m higher than
FY24 Q3

-     FY25 EBITDA in-line with consensus market expectations*

Gear4music's Executive Chair, Andrew Wass, said:

"We are pleased to report that financial performance during our FY25 peak
seasonal trading period was in line with the Board's expectations, with 6%
revenue growth and an improvement in Gross Profit. This reflects the progress
we have made as a result of our refreshed growth strategy, in what continues
to be a challenging consumer environment, particularly in certain European
markets.

Christmas trading followed the pattern we had expected and planned for, with
revenues in November being subdued by the late Black Friday weekend condensing
peak revenues into the three weeks before Christmas.

January trading to date continues to be in line with the Board's expectations
and we are confident that the business is well positioned for continued
profitable growth during FY26."

* Gear4music believes that current consensus market expectations for the year
ending 31 March 2025 are revenues of £154.7 million, EBITDA of £11.7 million
and profit before tax of £2.8 million.

ENDS

 

Enquiries:

 

 Gear4music                                             +44 (0)20 3405 0205

 Andrew Wass, Executive Chair

 Gareth Bevan, Chief Executive Officer

 Chris Scott, Chief Financial Officer

 Singer Capital Markets - Nominated Adviser and Broker  +44 (0)20 7496 3000

 Peter Steel/Sam Butcher, Corporate Finance

 Tom Salvesen, Corporate Broking

 Alma Strategic Communications - Financial PR           +44 (0)20 3405 0205

 Rebecca Sanders-Hewett                                 Gear4music@almastrategic.com

 Joe Pederzolli

 David Ison

 

About Gear4music (Holdings) plc

Gear4music is the largest retailer of musical instruments and music equipment
in the UK, delivering to 190 countries across Europe and the Rest of the
World.

 

The Group sells own-brand musical instruments and music equipment alongside
premium third-party brands including Fender, Yamaha and Roland, to customers
ranging from beginners to musical enthusiasts and professionals.

 

Operating from a Head Office in York, the Group has Distribution Centres in
York, Bacup, Sweden, Germany, Ireland & Spain, and showrooms in York,
Bacup, Sweden & Germany.

 

Having developed its own e-commerce platform, with multilingual, multicurrency
websites, the Group continues to build its overseas presence.

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