Organigram’s Q1 net revenue gets boost from recreational pot sales

MONCTON, N.B. – Licensed cannabis producer Organigram Holdings Inc. says net revenue in its latest quarter hit $12.4 million, up from $2.4 million from a year earlier, due to the launch of recreational pot sales in October.

Organigram says its sales during the three-month period ended Nov. 30 marked a record quarterly high and amounted to more than what the company has historically sold to medical patients in an entire year.

The Moncton-based company also reported that during what was its financial first quarter it sold 1.7 million grams of dried flower, up from 195,075 grams during the same period a year earlier.

The company’s latest earnings comes after Statistics Canada reported cannabis retail sales across the country in November totalled $54 million, up from $43.1 million during the roughly two weeks of legal pot sales starting on October 17.

The pot producer’s expenses also more than doubled to $5.5 million in the latest quarter from $2.6 million during the same period a year earlier as industry players ramped up their marketing spend ahead of legalization.

Organigram also reported net income from continuing operations of $29.5 million, up from a net loss of $1.2 million a year ago.

Analyzing the performance of marijuana companies is difficult because of accounting rules used in the agriculture industry that require companies to put a value on their pot plants before they are harvested, and approaches differ between producers on how to apply these guidelines.

Companies in this story: (TSX-V: OGI)