Losses narrow at musical instruments retailer
Musical instruments and music equipment business, Gear4Music, says its refreshed strategy for growth is starting to be reflected in its interim results for the six months ended 30 September 2024.
The York-headquartered company has reported total revenues of £61.7m (FY24 H1: £62.6m) and a pre-tax loss of £1.2m (FY24 H1: £1.9m).
The firm’s net bank debt of £14.4m was £3.7m lower than last year, while disciplined cost control resulted in a £1m reduction in administrative expenses.
Andrew Wass, executive chair said: “We are pleased to report progress in executing our refreshed growth strategy announced in June 2024, resulting in improvements in our financial performance during FY25 H1.
“Building on our return to sales growth in FY25 Q2, we have achieved a 5% increase in revenue during FY25 H2 trading to date, following the resolution of the challenges associated with the initial roll-out of our new outsourced AI-based marketing platform.
“Aware of the potential for ongoing weakness in the European consumer retail environment, we maintained a disciplined approach to cost management during FY25 H1, contributing to a further reduction in our net debt.
“While the recent UK budget will introduce additional employment costs from FY26 onwards estimated at £0.3m, we are confident these can be largely mitigated through further cost-saving measures.”
Its its outlook statement Gear4Music says it achieved a 5% revenue growth during FY25 H2 trading to date, in what continues to be a tough consumer environment, particularly in its European markets.
The company adds it is well-positioned and prepared for the upcoming peak seasonal trading period.
And it notes its full-year outlook remains in-line with consensus market expectations of revenues of £154.7m, EBITDA of £11.7m and profit before tax of £2.8m.
