Debra Borchardt
Canadian cannabis company CannTrust Holdings Inc. (CNTTF) delivered fourth quarter and full-year earnings with profits overcoming losses.
Revenues for the fourth quarter were C$6.9 million versus last year’s C$2.0 million and for the full year, revenues were C$20.6 million as compared to C$4.3 million for 2016. Net income for the fourth quarter was C$6.2 million versus a net loss last year of C$8.2 million for the same time period. The net income for 2017 was C$6.8 million over 2016’s net loss of C$13.6 million.
Earnings per share for 2017 were C$0.09 compared to a loss per share of (C$0.32) for the 2016 period. The company said in a statement that during the most recent quarter, a number of regular grow rooms at our Langstaff Facility were used to harvest Mother Plants for Phase 1 of the Niagara Greenhouse Facility. “As a result, during the quarter the Company used third-party product purchases as a harvest replacement and bridge to meet the demand for the Company’s products. The higher cost of these third-party purchases negatively impacted earnings for the three months ended December 31, 2017, by approximately $1.8 million.”
Management Comments
Chief Executive Officer Eric Paul said, “We are very pleased with our Q4 and year-end results. Graduating to the TSX reflects the amazing progress we have made since listing on the CSE and represents yet another important milestone for CannTrust as we continue our successful journey as one of Canada’s leading cannabis companies.”
“Our recently completed Phase 1 and our soon to be completed Phase 2 of our 430,000 square feet Niagara Greenhouse Facility are perfectly timed in order for us to supply the international orders we have recently received. The pending legislation to legalize the adult consumer recreational use of cannabis provides a further major opportunity for the Company” said Brad Rogers, President of CannTrust Inc.
Quarterly Updates
CannTrust said that it increased active patients to over 40,000. The company received a Health Canada’s Sales License for Phase 1 of the Niagara Greenhouse Facility and had multiple harvests from the Niagara Greenhouse Facility. In addition to that, the Phase 2 expansion at the Niagara Greenhouse Facility is currently underway and is anticipated to be completed and in cultivation towards the middle of 2018. As a result, CannTrust expects to meet our 40,000 kilograms of annual growing capacity from this facility
Stock Performance
The OTC Exchange stock was lately trading at $5.93, down from its 52-week high of $10.24 and the Toronto Stock Exchange-traded shares were recently at C$7.65 down from the 52-week high of C$9.44.
According to Yahoo Finance, three analysts cover the stock with an average price target of C$11.05.
