Debra Borchardt
Ayr Wellness Inc. (OTCQX: AYRWF) reported financial results for the first quarter ending March 31, 2022 with revenue rising 90% to $111.2 million over last year’s $58 million. Sales did slip a tiny bit from the fourth quarter’s revenue of $111.8 million. Ayr is forecasting an annualized run-rate of $250 million of Adjusted EBITDA,$250 million of Adjusted EBITDA, $100 million of operating income, and $800 million of revenue for the fourth quarter of 2022.
The company also trimmed its net losses from $16 million for the first quarter of last year to $9 million. During the first quarter, Ayr said it deployed $33.2 million of capital expenditures and anticipates an additional $37 million of capital expenditures for the remainder of 2022. The company ended the quarter with a cash balance of $78.7 million.
Jonathan Sandelman, Founder, Chairman and CEO of Ayr, said, “We have made excellent progress this year to complete major capex projects and receive regulatory approvals across our footprint. We will now unlock the revenue streams from these various assets going forward – including the start of adult use sales in New Jersey and Boston next month. We invested heavily in these assets ahead of the revenue benefits which has temporarily reduced our operating margins, however, we expect these investments to put our forward earnings power in a much stronger position and anticipate improvements to both our top and bottom line in the second half of 2022 as these assets come online and begin to ramp.”
Earlier this week, the New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory Commission approved Ayr for adult-use cannabis sales for all three of its retail locations, which is the maximum allowable dispensaries under current state law. On May 12, Ayr received its final license to sell adult-use cannabis in the heart of Boston’s Back Bay, the company’s first adult-use dispensary in Greater Boston. Ayr expects the dispensary to open in June.
“The foundation for our business is set, and the investments we have made into our people, our customers, our technology infrastructure, and our retail and cultivation processes are now set to bear fruit. It has been a long journey that has required incredible patience, but as our assets turn on and ramp in Q3 and Q4, we believe we are at the inflection point we’ve been planning for the past 18 months.”
