York-based musical instrument seller Gear4Music has confirmed a return to profit in its latest audited results.

The company, based at Clifton Moor, says in the year ending March 31, it made adjusted pre-tax profits of £1.1million.

Despite revenues dropping 5% to £144.4million, the UK’s largest online retailer of musical instruments and related equipment increased its gross margin from 25.7% to 27.3%.

This overturned last year’s pre-tax loss off £400,000.

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Adjusted EBITDA increased 34% to £9.9 million and the company reduced its net debt to  £7.7million.

The figures were impacted by a spend of £487,000 for one-off redundancy costs, following a reduction of around 100, or a fifth of the staff, last year.

Overall, reducing overhead costs delivered a £1.5million improvement in adjusted profits before tax, the audited accounts also said.

The company also confirmed changes to its board, many of which were announced in April.

As previously announced, non-executive chair Ken Ford is retiring from the board. Chief executive Andrew Wass will replace him as executive chair.

Chief commercial officer Gareth Bevan will become chief executive.

Dean Murray will step down as non-executive director, with Sharon Daly joining as non-exec.

Neil Catto will join the board as senior independent director and chair of the audit committee.

The changes will take effect on Friday July 5.

Andrew Wass, Chief Executive Officer, said: “We are pleased to be reporting FY24 financial results in line with market expectations, with adjusted EBITDA of £9.9m representing a 34% increase on £7.4 million in FY23 highlighting the successful execution of our strategy to prioritise and protect margins.”

He continued: “Having delivered the key objectives we set ourselves at the beginning of FY24, the Group is well positioned to relaunch its profitable growth strategy for FY25. This will focus on expanding sales verticals and channels to market whilst further enhancing and leveraging our unique bespoke e-commerce platform and product offering.

“International revenue growth faced some localised challenges in FY24; however, the Board is confident that, through our ongoing actions and new initiatives, such as our second-hand proposition, European sales are set to start recovering in FY25.”

He added: “The cost reductions implemented through FY24 are now delivering full-year benefits as we commence FY25. Alongside this, based on trading performance since our last update in April, the Board remains confident in delivering further improvements in financial performance during FY25 in line with market expectations."

News of the financial performance helped boost Gear4Music’s share price from 125p yesterday to as high as 150p earlier today. The price opened at 140p, giving the firm, founded in 2003, a market capitalisation of £31.26million.