Aurora Cannabis reports quarterly loss amid restructuring push

Major Canadian marijuana producer Aurora Cannabis reported a slight quarterly revenue increase during its first fiscal quarter, despite an adjusted EBITDA loss of 57.9 million Canadian dollars ($44.7 million) as the company worked through its transition plan.

Net revenue was CA$67.8 million for the quarter ended Sept. 30.

Excluding payments worth CA$47.4 million related to the company’s ongoing restructuring, Aurora said its quarterly adjusted EBITDA loss was CA$10.5 million.

The company said it plans to achieve positive adjusted EBITDA in the second quarter.

Aurora’s Canadian recreational cannabis revenue shrank by 3% on a quarterly basis to CA$34.3 million.

CEO Miguel Martin struck an optimistic tone on a Monday morning conference call, highlighting overall growth in Canada’s adult-use market and consumers “(demonstrating) very dynamic tendencies, with market share moving very quickly between brands unlike in more stable (consumer packaged goods) categories.”

“This provides us with a great opening for our pivot to premium brands,” Martin said.

Martin added that Aurora’s Canadian recreational strategy is focused on:

• Driving sales of premium flower brands.
• Increasing market share of “key growth formats,” including vape products, pre-rolled joints, edibles and concentrates.
• Aligning production costs with sales, and shifting from fixed-cost production to variable-cost production.

Medical cannabis net revenue, including international medical marijuana income, increased 4% from the previous quarter to CA$33.5 million.

Aurora attributed that growth to strong international medical growth and “consistent performance” in Canada’s medical marijuana market, where the company said it holds a first-place position in terms of net revenue.

Aurora recently filed a preliminary short-form base shelf prospectus that will allow it to raise as much as $500 million over 25 months.

“But we are firmly convinced that our focus on getting to cash-flow positive as quickly as possible will both demonstrate the excellent long-term value creation possible in this industry, and will alleviate the need for additional equity capital as far as possible,” said chief financial officer Glen Ibbott on Monday.

The Edmonton-based firm reported an annual loss of CA$3.3 billion for its 2020 fiscal year, including a CA$1.6 billion write-down.

Aurora trades as ACB on the Toronto Stock Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange.