Record year for AIM-listed music retailer following private equity exit
Online retailer gear4Music has had a record year, and is expanding with a £5.3m HQ acquisition on the back of it.
Revenues reached £56.1m for the York-based business in the year to February 2017, up 58% on the year before.
The company made pre-tax profits of £2.3m, compared to a loss of £43,000 in 2016.
It was a landmark year for the business in other ways as well. Private equity firm Key Capital Partners, which had made a major investment in the business back in 2012 prior to its IPO, sold its final shareholding in October 2016.
Following this record year, the group is set to acquire 50,000 sq ft freehold property at Holgate Park in York for £5.3m as moves its HQ.
Gear4Music operates from its head office in York, showrooms in York and Sweden, and distribution centres in York, Sweden and Germany, having made efforts to expand in Europe over the past few years, and saw international growth of 124% last year.
Andrew Wass, chief executive officer said: “This has been a transformational year for the business, with further expansion of the Gear4music brand driving record sales and profits.
“In particular we have seen significant expansion in our International business where sales have been very strong. We have therefore accelerated investment in our European infrastructure to improve our customer proposition and reach, most notably through the opening of two new distribution hubs in Sweden and Germany.
“We begin our current financial year with good momentum and continued appetite from customers around the world for our market leading service and product offering. We are well positioned to deliver further growth and have plans in place to continue investing in our operational facilities and systems to support our growth plans.
“The next 12 months will be exciting as we move into our new head office in York, scale up our European operations, and enhance our worldwide proposition, and we remain confident in the long-term growth prospects for the Group.”
