GEAR4MUSIC (HOLDINGS) PLC

Earnings Release • Jan 23, 2020

National Storage Mechanism | Additional information

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RNS Number : 6397A

Gear4music (Holdings) PLC

23 January 2020

23 January 2020

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 two months to 31 December 2019.

£m	2 months to 31 December 2019	2 months to 31 December 2018	% change
UK sales	15.9	15.0	+6%
Europe and Rest of the World sales	14.5	13.5	+7%
Total sales	30.4	28.5	+7%

Highlights

·     Gross margin improved by 260bps to 26.5% (FY19: 23.9%)

·     Gross profit increased by £1.2m (18%) from £6.8m to £8.0m

·     Logistics and IT infrastructure performed well during peak trading

·     FY20 profits expected to be at least in line with Board expectations

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

"I am very pleased to report a successful FY20 peak trading period, that reflects the commercial and operational progress we have made across the business during the last calendar year.

As previously communicated, our primary FY20 objective has been to improve our operational strength and efficiency, gross margins and profitability relative to quickly growing market share during FY19.

Our upgraded infrastructure demonstrated its resilience and capacity over the Black Friday to Cyber Monday weekend, and we comfortably dispatched over 26,000 consignments, which was 34% more than last year's Black Friday weekend.

Our three distribution locations have the capacity headroom required to achieve our medium-term objectives without the need for further significant investment, as we return to focusing on and delivering new growth orientated projects during FY21.

We are pleased to report that as a result of our focused strategic and operational initiatives, profits for the current financial year are expected to be at least in line with the Board's expectations. We remain confident in the medium to long term growth opportunity, whilst continuing our focus on improving gross margins and sustainable profitability."

- Ends -

Enquiries:

Gear4music Andrew Wass, Chief Executive Officer Chris Scott, Chief Financial Officer	+44 (0)20 3865 9668
N+1 Singer - Nominated Adviser and Broker Peter Steel/Justin McKeegan, Corporate Finance Tom Salvesen, Corporate Broking	+44 (0)20 7496 3000
Alma - Financial PR Rebecca Sanders-Hewett Helena Bogle	+44 (0)20 3405 0205 gear4music@almapr.co.uk

About Gear4music.com

Operating from a Head Office in York, and Distribution Centres and showrooms in York, Sweden and Germany, 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, in the UK, Europe and, more recently, into the Rest of the World.

Having developed its own e-commerce platform, with multilingual, multicurrency websites delivering to over 190 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.

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