Acreage Holdings (CSNX: ARCG.U) gave the markets a glimpse at its first quarter financial results, posting a presentation with various financial highlights from the first three months of the year.
Overall, Acreage reported a first-quarter net loss of $31.2 million, or 39 cents per share, in comparison to the same time last year which saw losses of $4.2 million or 8 cents per share.
The biggest highlight for the company was its revenue figures, which jumped from $2.2 million last year to $12.9 million, or a 487 percent increase.
“I am pleased with the progress we made toward increasing our national footprint and particularly our expansion in the western United States. Our revenues grew by 487% compared to the first quarter of 2018, despite delayed dispensary openings caused by local regulators in both Massachusetts and Ohio,” said Kevin Murphy, Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Acreage. “We do not expect these delays to impact our long-term ability to generate industry-leading returns. Additionally, we expect our arrangement agreement with Canopy Growth will provide us the ability to rapidly accelerate our growth plan as the transaction makes us the most attractive partner in U.S. cannabis.”
Over financial details revealed by the company include data on how much capital has been spent on acquisitions, a figure that was revealed at being over $100 million over the quarter. The company will be holding a conference call with analysts and management on Wednesday morning.
On another note, Acreage Holding’s shareholders finally voted today on whether they would officially go ahead with the planned deal with Canopy Growth Corp (TSE: WEED)(NYSE: CGC). To no one’s surprise, the vote succeeded with 91 percent of shareholders voting in favor of the transaction. Additionally, five senior executives agreed to extended lockup agreements for their own shares.
Earlier this year, Canopy Growth announced that it was purchasing the right to buy Acreage in the future should the regulatory environment in America change. Currently, Canopy has the right to buy the entire company in a deal valued at $3.4 billion, one of the largest in cannabis history.
The resulting acquisition, should it come through in the future, would merge what is already the largest vertically integrated multi-state operate in the U.S. with the largest cannabis company in the world. The resulting combination would create a giant cannabis entity that would cover all aspects of the supply chain, from cultivation to retail sales, on a massive scale.
Until then, however, Canopy will have to wait and see what legal options become open later on. Specifically, the STATES Act that some lawmakers are backing shows some promise and seems like a more reasonable alternative than a full removal of the federal ban against cannabis.
Shares of Acreage Holdings inched up today in response to the news, ending Tuesday’s trading session up 1.8 percent. Like many other cannabis companies, Acreage’s stock has fallen over the past month or so but has stayed relatively in the same price range since it first shot up in January 2019. Shares of Canopy Growth stayed the same today, in response to a couple of other news developments we’ll cover in a separate news report.
