Cannabis Consulting Firm Turns Unrivaled Brands Around in 2022

Unrivaled Brands (OTCQB: UNRV) posted encouraging financial results for the fourth quarter of 2022 showing that the California-based company’s reported income from operations rose to $8.8 million, a notable improvement versus a loss of $13.3 million in the same period the previous year.

Net income from continuing operations during the quarter was $3.9 million, compared to a net loss of $16.2 million during the same period a year ago. Additionally, Unrivaled posted EBITDA income from continuing operations of $9.7 million, in contrast to an EBITDA loss of $10.4 million in the previous year’s fourth quarter.

“The strategic thinking brought to the table from both the Unrivaled Brands and Adnant teams has been a gamechanger,” said Danielle Sebastian, director of marketing at Unrivaled. “It feels like we’ve moved mountains over the past several months together. We’re working with a group of people who care about the cannabis industry in a real way and whose work ethic is extremely strong.”

Unrivaled successfully lowered its total liabilities by 39%, or $48.3 million, bringing it down to $77 million after it renegotiated its debt, paid down creditors, disposed of nonperforming assets, and improved working capital.

The company also raised $2 million through a Series V Preferred Share offering during the period, which closed in the first quarter of 2023.

For the full year, Unrivaled’s revenues rose by 23% to $52 million, up from 2021, primarily driven by a 63% increase in revenue from retail operations. Gross profit for 2022 rose to $17 million, up 53% from the year before.

Still, the company reported a loss of $193.8 million for 2022, which was mostly attributable to an impairment charge of $163.7 million primarily related to the acquisitions of UMBRLA, People’s, and SilverStreak. Unrivaled saw $38.3 million worth of losses in 2021.

Unrivaled’s restructure included terminating its third-party distribution operations in California and its retail and delivery operations at SilverStreak Sacramento. The company dissolved SilverStreak and related entities in November 2022, ending all liabilities and existing obligations of the dissolved entities.

As a result, Unrivaled recorded a gain of disposal of assets for $7.2 million during 2022.

Backstory

Adnant Consulting, a cannabis accountancy firm that initially worked with Terra Tech in 2015, played a crucial role in Unrivaled’s makeover. Terra Tech merged with Umbrla to form the new Unrivaled. The combined company aimed to achieve more than $70 million in revenue for 2021.

However, Unrivaled reported only $47.7 million in revenue in that time, primarily because Umbrla’s contributions covered only half a year.

Unrivaled sought Adnant’s assistance again in August 2022. The firm focused on repositioning the business and brand, and its primary goals included optimizing cash flow by disposing of noncore assets, streamlining ongoing operations for improved efficiency, enhancing key vendor relationships, and reducing short- and long-term debt.

The consulting firm is led by Unrivaled’s freshly minted chief, Sabas Carillo, who also happens to be the CFO for Cookies Creative Consulting & Promotions Inc., an arm of lifestyle brand Cookies.

These restructuring efforts led to a significant reduction in Unrivaled’s total liabilities by $50.2 million, bringing them down to $75.2 million from $125.4 million at the end of the prior year – a 40% reduction.