Gear4music Holdings PLC expects full-year underlying earnings to be in line with market expectations.
The largest UK based online retailer of musical instruments and music equipment did not exactly end 2021 on a high note, with sales in the three months to the end of December down 10% at £47.2mln from £52.2mln a year earlier, but compared to two years earlier – pre-pandemic, in other words – sales were up 17%.
Management said the company traded in line with expectations in what is the third quarter of the retailer’s fiscal year.
“UK sales growth continued to be robust against what were exceptional revenues last year, and as previously reported, European growth has been restricted due to short term Brexit related challenges. We are continuing to make good progress in scaling up our new European distribution centres in Ireland and Spain to strengthen our European customer proposition, and we expect European revenues to regain momentum as we head into FY23,”said Gear4Music’s chief executive officer, Andrew Wass.
The company reported back in mid-November that Brexit-related supply chain disruptions were taking long to resolve than expected and were hitting its overseas business.
“Following the successful acquisition of AV Distribution Ltd in December 2021, we were very pleased to have successfully launched AV.com as scheduled on 13 January 2022. AV.com is currently focused on retailing Home Cinema and Hi-Fi equipment and accessories and significantly increases our addressable market size.
“We have a strong pipeline of new products, e-commerce system developments and new website features due to be launched throughout FY23, and as such, we remain confident in our long-term profitable growth strategy," Wass said.
Shares in Gear4Music were unchanged.