John Schroyer
Nutraceutical firm Irwin Naturals Inc. (CSE: IWIN) (OTC: IWINF) (FRA: 97X) continued to pay for its expansion into psychedelics clinics, posting a $5.4 million loss in the second quarter ended June 30, down from a $111,000 profit for the same period a year ago.
Total losses for the year so far are at $13.1 million, Irwin reported in its quarterly financials, and attributed the ongoing losses to “continued startup costs related to the company’s 2022 and 2023 acquisitions at Irwin Naturals Emergence,” a string of ketamine clinics Irwin purchased.
Although revenue was up slightly to $22.1 million from $21.8 million year-over-year, operating income crashed through the floor from a $500,000 profit last year to a $1.9 million loss this past quarter, Irwin reported.
In the first half of 2023, Irwin Naturals doubled down on its expansion into the psychedelics sector, with the purchase of Serenity Health LLC, a ketamine clinic in Louisville, Kentucky, in February and again when its acquisition of Keta Media closed in March.
At the same time, the company reported continuing expansion with its existing marijuana product lines, with 10 brand licensing deals executed so far this year in California, Colorado, Mississippi, Michigan, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon, Oklahoma, and Canada.
“During the first half of 2023, we successfully launched our branded licensing initiative in our cannabis sector,” CFO Sean Sand said in a statement. “Sales have exceeded our expectations and we look forward continuing our licensing efforts in the space. We also continued to expand our mental health footprint through the acquisition of an industry leading marketing and patient acquisition platform, Ketamine Media, enabling greater treatment availability and market expansion.”
Irwin, which was founded as a nutraceutical company prior to expanding into cannabis and psychedelics, also still has non-psychoactive products in over 100,000 mainstream retail stores across the U.S.
