Online retailer of musical gear and paraphernalia, Gear4Music (LON:G4M), hit the high notes in 2015, with strong sales growth, particularly in Europe.
Shares were up 7.5% at 141.5p in mid-morning trading, less than 8p below their 52-week high, as it revealed that revenues and profits for the year just ended were at the higher end of the board's expectations.
It reported a 46% increase in sales to £35.49mln in the 12 months to the end of February from £24.24mln the year before.
The UK-based retailer saw a surge in sales in its home market, with a 39% increase to £26.02mln from £18.76mln the year before, but this was overshadowed by the rapidly burgeoning European market, where sales rose 73% to £9.47mln from £5.48mln.
The group said its impressive improvement in European sales was in part driven by competitive pricing.
In all, the group added 190,000 new customers during the reporting period.
"We have been extremely pleased with the trading performance of Gear4music over the year. It's been a pivotal 12 months for the business as we've been able to deliver strong growth in both the UK and Europe, whilst completing our IPO [initial public offering],” said Andrew Wass, chief executive officer of Gear4Music.
“We continue to execute our strategy with proceeds from the IPO invested into stock, systems and web site improvements which, combined with the hard work of our growing and talented team, has helped us to significantly increase our market share,” he continued.
“We believe that the company is well-capitalised and well-positioned to continue implementing our profitable growth strategy, as we build on the success of our UK and international expansion with a constantly improving customer proposition," Wass concluded.