Namaste Technologies (CVE: N) is a cannabis company that’s been struggling over the past few weeks concerning its reputation. The cannabis-based e-commerce company saw it’s share drop significantly over the past month as it fired its former CEO for supposed fraudulent activity.
To make matters worse, Namaste auditors, Price Waterhouse Cooper (PwC), resigned today and refused to continue working with the company. With Namaste now seeming unlikely to meet its annual financial statement deadlines, shares dropped around 12.5 percent following the announcement.
The company announced that PwC formally dropped Namaste as a client only six months after the two companies came to an agreement. Currently, Namaste is looking for a replacement and “are in advanced discussions with potential successor auditors, one of whom is in the final stages of its client acceptance process,” adding that “the Company’s annual financial statements are due to be filed by March 31, 2019. The Company currently believes that it is unlikely that it will be able to meet such a filing deadline. The Company will continue to assess this, and will update the market in due course.”
The sudden resignation of any company’s auditors is an extremely worrying sign for a business, let alone one such as Namaste which has had struggles with other accusations in the past. Earlier in February, Namaste fired it’s chief executive Sean Dollinger for accusations of self-dealing, launching legal actions against their ex-CEO. In response, Dollinger announced he was moving to take legal actions to correct what he thinks to be inaccurate allegations raised against him.
“The Company’s financial reporting team has continued to work diligently during the last several weeks on finalization of the Company’s annual financial statements,” added the company, which remains optimistic that the actual financial results themselves will be strong. “The resignation of PwC has not impacted management’s confidence in its financial results, and it remains committed to assisting new auditors to complete the year-end audit.”
Today’s announcement follows a further statement from the company which said it would be conducting a strategic review of all aspects of their business to ensure legal compliance. Namaste was recently advised by the National Health Surveillance Agency in Brazil that there were “irregular online advertising of certain tobacco products” on a website operated by the company. In response, Namaste suspended all product sales in the country as it seeks
In response to the news, Namaste’s stock dropped 12.5 percent in today’s trading session. Big drops are common for the company, whose share price is in the penny stock status at C$0.77. The firing of the company’s CEO on February 4th saw share prices drop another 20 percent.
Namaste Technologies Company Profile
Namaste Technologies powers the ultimate online customer experience for medicinal cannabis and related products. Beginning with NamasteMD.com, the Company’s integrated telemedicine application, we connect medical clients with health care practitioners to more readily issue and renew cannabis prescriptions online.
Featuring the first Canadian Medical Sales-Only Licence, the Company’s own Cannmart.com is your ‘everything cannabis store’ offering clients a large variety of strains to fill their prescription needs. Namaste’s unique artificial intelligence (AI) engine incorporated in its platforms and related Uppy App, completes our ecosystem by identifying the right product and pairing to address specific medical cannabis requirements.
Namaste also provides vaporizers and accessories across several platforms operating in more than 20 countries. Namaste’s global technology addresses local needs in a burgeoning cannabis industry requiring smart solutions. – Namaste Technologies
