GEAR4MUSIC (HOLDINGS) PLC

Earnings Release • Jul 23, 2020

National Storage Mechanism | Additional information

RNS Number : 8072T

Gear4music (Holdings) PLC

23 July 2020

23 July 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 an update due to strong trading in the first quarter of the current year which is now expected to be ahead of the Board's expectations.

£m	3 months to 30 June 2020	3 months to 30 June 2019	% change
UK sales	21.2	11.8	80%
Europe and Rest of the World sales	16.1	10.4	55%
Total sales	37.3	22.2	68%

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

"As previously reported, the COVID-19 lockdown created an exceptionally strong period of trading for the Group during April and May 2020, and further strong trading in June resulted in Q1 revenue growth of 68% compared with the same period last year.

The strong trading momentum has continued into July, and we continue to achieve higher gross margins and with a lower marketing cost than we would typically expect, alongside a controlled cost base.

As a result, and whilst still early in the current financial year, the Board is confident that a significant improvement in profits will be achieved for the full financial year, which are now expected to be meaningfully ahead of our previous expectations."

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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 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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