Online musical instrument specialist Gear4Music has reported a fall in revenue in its interim results for the six months to 30 September 21, but in a statement said that this was in line with expectations following “exceptional” trading the prior year. Revenues for the half-year at £64.7m compared with £70.2m in the same period of 2020. EBITDA at £4.8m was £3.7m less than the prior year but £2.8m higher than the 2019/20 half-year.
Andrew Wass, chief executive at Gear4Music, said: “I am pleased to report that following the exceptional period of trading during FY21, Group financial performance during FY22 H1 was in-line with the Board’s expectations, retaining strong margins and achieving significantly improved profitability compared with the more comparable FY20 H1 trading period.
“FY22 Q1 sales were stronger than expected, which provided the basis for the Board to upgrade its expectations on 22 June 2021. However, Brexit related supply chain challenges are persisting for longer than we had previously anticipated, and European Q3 sales to date have been slower than previously expected. As a result, the group is trading below FY22 consensus market expectations, with the board now expecting that FY22 EBITDA will be not less than £12m.
“As our new hubs in Ireland and Spain scale up to build upon our existing European infrastructure, we are confident that the remaining Brexit related challenges will be resolved by FY22 Q4 and our European customer proposition will be significantly strengthened.
“With the acquisition of AV Distribution Ltd due to complete in December 2021 followed by the launch of AV.com in January 2022, which will significantly increase our addressable market size, alongside multiple planned upgrades to our eCommerce platform during FY23, we remain confident in our profitable growth strategy.”
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