York-based Gear4music, the online retailer of musical instruments and equipment, said in a trading update for the four months to December 31, 2017, that sales rose 42% to £34.5 million.

Despite the surge in sales, Gear4music shares fell more than 5%.

Active customer numbers rose 38% to 450,000 at December 31, 2017, compared with December 31, 2016, and website conversion improved to 3.3% in the period, up from 3.0% last year.

Gear4music CEO Andrew Wass, said: “We are very pleased with our trading performance over the last four months, with sales growth of 42% building on the 44% achieved in the first half, and trading for the year to date is in line with the board’s expectations.

“This has been achieved as we continue to invest in our customer proposition, marketing, people and websites, all with a view to enhancing our long-term growth prospects.

“Growth in our more established UK market has remained strong alongside very strong growth in our international markets which are being further driven by an improved delivery proposition as we continue to scale up our European hubs.

“Our Swedish distribution centre now fulfils over 50% of all our Scandinavian orders, and our German distribution centre, which became operational just 10 months ago, dispatched over 800 orders on its busiest day in December.

“We are confident that the group will continue to grow rapidly over the medium and longer term, as we continue our mission to become the best musical instrument and equipment retailer in Europe.”