Shares of York-based Gear4music, the online international retailer of musical instruments and equipment, rose almost 4% after it revealed its sales soared 55% to £24.4 million in the four months to December 31 and that it is confident profits for the full year will be ahead of earlier expectations.

In a trading update, Gear4music said its active customer numbers jumped by 53% to 324,000 at December 31, 2016, compared with December 31, 2015.

It said 63% growth in sales of its own-brand products supported strong gross margins.

Gear4music, which has distribution centres in Sweden and Germany, sells own-brand musical instruments and music equipment alongside premium brands including Fender, Yamaha and Gibson.  

Gear4music CEO Andrew Wass, said: “We continued to deliver a strong sales performance during the last four months including the festive period, and with year to date growth of 63%, the group remains on-track to deliver annual revenues in-line with the board’s expectations.

“We were particularly pleased with our own-brand sales performance during the period, which was driven by improving conversion rates and investment in additional stock.

“As a result of this and a controlled overhead cost base, the board is now confident that Gear4music is well placed to deliver profits for the full year that will be ahead of the increased expectations signalled at the half year stage.

“As the business continues its programme of investment into distribution centres, websites, systems, products and people, we remain confident of delivering on our growth strategy.”