Aurora Cannabis Delivers Big Jump In Revenues As Patient Counts Rise

Aurora Cannabis Inc. (ACBFF) reported $8.2 million in revenues for the fiscal first quarter of 2018, up 169% from the same time period in 2017 and up 39% sequentially from Q4 2017. In addition to that, Aurora added approximately 2,880 active registered patients during the quarter, which translated into an 18% increase.

Aurora reported net income before taxes of $4.7 million versus last year’s net loss before taxes of $6.3 million. The company said that the increase was “Due predominantly due to higher revenues, an unrealized gain on the change in fair value of biological assets, as well as an unrealized gain on the $2.0 million Radient Technologies debenture Aurora invested in as part of its strategic collaboration.”

“Aurora is performing brilliantly, with powerful domestic and international revenue growth, record harvests, decreasing per-gram production costs, industry-leading integration of technology, and exceptional execution, which is a testament to the outstanding team we’ve assembled,” said Terry Booth, CEO. “In just six months, we acquired our next-generation Aurora Vie facility, completed it with major upgrades, and received our production license, nearly doubling our production capacity. At Aurora Sky, we’re building what by mid-2018 will be the world’s largest capacity production facility, and we’re doing it at an amazing pace. We’ve made smart acquisitions, established ourselves as a partner of choice for strategic alliances, and expanded our product offering to customers. I’m absolutely delighted with the A-Team’s performance.”

According to the company’s statement, “Gross profits for the quarter increased to $8.8 million, as compared to $0.1 million for the three months ending September 30, 2016 and this was attributed to the gain on the effect of changes in fair value of biological assets in addition to an increase of $5.2 million in revenues, as the number of active registered patients increased from 8,200 at September 30, 2016 to 19,280 at September 30, 2017.” In addition, the Company generated $1.2 million in revenues through the sale of medical cannabis by Pedanios in Germany. Profits were offset partially by a 22% increase in production costs and inventory expensed to cost of sales as a result of scaling up of production.

Prices for dried cannabis strains increased to $9.00 a gram from $8.00. The average price of the overall product sold increased by 10.3% from $7.45 to $8.22 per gram, attributable mainly to strong increases in cannabis oils sold and sales through Pedanios in Germany. Total product sold for the period was 889,965 grams of dried cannabis and cannabis oils, up 104% as compared to 435,720 grams of dried cannabis in the first quarter of 2017, and up 17.9% from 755,059 grams in Q4 2017.

Looking ahead, Aurora said that production capacity at our Mountain View facility in Cremona was nearly fully optimized. The company expects further expansion from the first calendar quarter of 2018 onwards with first harvest at Aurora Vie, followed in subsequent quarters by harvest from the first completed bays at Aurora Sky.Until these facilities are fully on board, revenue growth will mostly come from increased shipments to the German Pedanios which will start contributing in the second quarter. Plus, contributions from the recent acquisitions of  BC Northern Lights and Urban Cultivator.

The company plans to continue to expand further in the Canadian medical marijuana market as it prepares for the legalization of adult use marijuana in the country.

Booth added, “Being exceptionally well capitalized, our balance sheet provides the fuel needed to maintain a very high pace for footprint and product offering expansion. The agility and execution track record of our team translates into strong confidence in our ability to create significant further shareholder value going forward as we aggressively pursue domestic, international and product line growth.”