Published 6th Apr 2023, 16:45 BST

The York firm announced that it expects earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation to land in the range of around £7.3 to £7.7 million, down from £11 million the year prior. The business has, however, reduced its net debt to £14.5 million as of March 31, down from £24.2 million at the same time last year.

Gear4music chief executive officer, Andrew Wass, said: "Whilst challenging economic conditions meant we were not able to grow revenues and profits as intended during 2023, we are pleased to have made good progress with our objective of significantly reducing the Group's net debt position.

“The further investment into our European distribution infrastructure during 2022 underpinned our progress in Europe during 2023, although high rates of inflation continue to squeeze consumer spending on discretionary items across all of our markets. In the UK, courier disruption impacted trading during our busiest period.

In an unscheduled trading update, Yorkshire-based online musical instrument retailer Gear4Music has announced that it expects a dip in core earnings for the year.

“We are confident, however, of profitability recovering in 2024 as growth initiatives gain traction and the benefits of our continued focus on overhead cost efficiencies filter through.”

Last month, the firm launched its second-hand trade-in system, which it notes has been met with promising initial results.

York-based Gear4Music issues profits warning after dip in consumer demand