Marijuana producer Canopy Growth reported its second billion-dollar quarterly loss this past Friday.
For the fiscal fourth-quarter, the company reported a net loss of C$1.33 billion, or $946.4 million. It was the second in its history after the Ontario based weed producer logged a C$1.28 billion loss in the fiscal first quarter last year.
In March the company had said it expected to record a C$700 million to C$800 million charge related to shutting down two weed facilities in British Columbia and laying off 500 people from related jobs.
Chief Financial Officer Mike Lee said on the earnings call that C$715 million was noncash, most tied to the cultivation assets it shut down, with roughly C$193 million of impairment charges from exiting international markets.
Lee noted that Canopy wrote off C$132 million for “obsolete” packaging, flower and biomass inventory.
Lee also said, “We know we missed opportunities along the way as our supply chain grappled with some complex products and production systems and work to gear itself against a very dynamic market with shifting demand and evolving consumer preferences and, quite honestly, volatile ordering patterns. And these challenges continued into Q4 as we generated a $108 million of net revenue, which was not only below our internal projections, but it was well below demonstrated demand. Simply put, we missed opportunities. But the good news is we are making changes to our operations and supply chain.”
CEO David Klein said on the earnings call, “Our top-line performance didn’t meet our expectations, and we lost market share in the Canadian recreational market. On the positive side, we finished the full year with 76% year-over-year growth and reduced our cash burn.”
