Aurora Cannabis Inc. says it incurred $3.3 billion in losses in its 2020 fiscal year, including $1.86 billion in its latest quarter due to large impairment charges.
The Edmonton-based cannabis company marked the quarter by taking $1.6 billion in goodwill writedowns, $86.5-million in writedowns related to its production facilities and $135.1 million worth of inventory charges.
It did not disclose its earnings per share for the quarter, but analysts had expected the company to report a loss of 42 cents per share.
Its fourth-quarter adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) was negative $34.6 million, compared with a loss of $50.4 million a year earlier.
Net revenue reached $72.1 million for the three months ended June 30, an almost 30 per cent drop from the $98.9 million it reported last year.
Recently appointed CEO Miguel Martin says he is focusing on repositioning the company immediately because it has slipped from its top position in the Canadian consumer cannabis market.
“My focus is therefore to reposition the Canadian consumer business immediately. We look to expand beyond the value flower segment, leverage our capabilities in science and product innovation and put our effort on a finite number of emerging growth formats,” he said in a news release.
Martin says he will overhaul Aurora by expanding its affordable flower offerings and increase the company’s focus on emerging cannabis formats like pre-rolls, vapes, concentrates and edibles.
Aurora Cannabis’s net revenue fell five percent in its fourth quarter, bringing in $72.114 million, a decline of $3.406 million over the quarter before.
Consumer cannabis net revenue fell nine percent over the previous quarter, even though the total volume of dried consumer cannabis sold increased by 36 percent.
The gain in sales volume was offset by a 30-percent decline in the average net selling price per gram. The decrease came from increased sales of the company’s value brand, called Daily Special.
On the balance sheet, Q4 total assets fell to $2.78 billion from $4.69 billion in the previous quarter.
On the positive side, the cost of producing cannabis fell 27 percent to $0.89 per gram, and at 44,406, the number of kilograms produced increased 23 per cent. The number of kilograms sold also rose to 16,748 kilograms, an increase of 32 per cent.
Net revenue for medical cannabis increase four percent from Q3, climbing to $32.2 million.
Shares of Aurora Cannabis (TSX:ACB) surged 15.15 percent before the results were released after market close, rising $1.28, to $9.73 on 6.1 million shares.
— With files from Paul Bucci, Canadian Evergreen