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AYR Wellness Reports Second Quarter 2023 Results – Cannabis Company High on Margins

Ayr Wellness Closes Acquisition of Ohio Medical Solutions, Inc. :: Ayr ...

AYR Wellness Reports Second Quarter 2023 Results

Aug. 17, 2023

Revenue up 18% Y/Y to $116.7 Million, Excluding Discontinued Operations

Company Delivers Record Adjusted EBITDA(1) of $29.4 Million, up 78% Y/Y, 12% Sequentially, with Adjusted EBITDA Margin of 25%

GAAP Loss from Operations Improved 81% Y/Y, 79% Sequentially to $(4.5) Million, Excluding Discontinued Operations

Aug. 17, 2023 AYR Wellness Inc.  a leading vertically integrated U.S. multi-state cannabis operator (“MSO”), is reporting financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2023. Unless otherwise noted, all results are presented in U.S. dollars.

The following financial measures are reported as results from continuing operations due to the sale of the Company’s business in Arizona in March 2023, which are reported as discontinued operations. All historical comparisons have been restated accordingly.

David Goubert, President & CEO of AYR, said, “The second quarter represented a meaningful step in AYR’s journey towards generating meaningful cash flow, as we simultaneously got leaner and more efficient while continuing to lay the foundation for revenue growth. We generated record Adjusted EBITDA, up 78% year-over-year with an Adjusted EBITDA margin of 25% and improved our GAAP loss from operations by 81% year-over-year to a loss of $4.5 million. Our efforts around cost savings and optimization accelerated margin expansion ahead of our expectations, and we believe these efforts will enable us to maintain Adjusted EBITDA margin in the mid-twenties for the second half as we unlock working capital through aggressive inventory management throughout the remainder of the year.

Ayr Wellness: Employee Directory | ZoomInfo.com

“We have also made meaningful progress on improving our liquidity profile in the second quarter. Along with the amendments to various earnout considerations completed in May, we also reached contingent agreements to extend the maturity of $69 million in promissory notes by two years and recently refinanced and upsized our Gainesville cultivation facility mortgage. As a result of the collective amendments to the vendor notes, contingent promissory notes and earn-out payments, and refinancing and upsizing of our Gainesville facility mortgage, we have extended the payment terms of more than $120 million of obligations, inclusive of the $69 million of contingent agreements. These important milestones reflect our commitment to strengthening AYR’s balance sheet, as we are intently focused on improving our working capital and liquidity.

“We are positioning AYR for sustainable long-term growth and profitability across all our markets, while prioritizing the financial health of the Company. As we look to the rest of the year, we plan to accelerate our cash generation via our 2023 optimization plan, making strides in inventory optimization, continuing to align our production with demand, and developing further synergies within our supply chain, retail, wholesale and purchasing functions. Additionally, we believe our ongoing initiatives to grow our Florida footprint, improve operations in New Jersey, and build out retail footprints in Ohio, Illinois, and Connecticut will enable us to accelerate growth in the quarters ahead.”

Second Quarter Financial Summary (excludes results from AZ for all periods) ($ in millions, excl. margin items)

 
                                                  % Change   % Change 
                       Q2 2022  Q1 2023  Q2 2023    Q2/Q2      Q2/Q1 
---------------------  -------  -------  -------  --------  ---------- 
  Revenue                $98.9   $117.7   $116.7     18.0%     -0.8% 
---------------------  -------  -------  -------  --------  -------- 
  Gross Profit           $36.0    $48.3    $56.6     57.2%     17.3% 
---------------------  -------  -------  -------  --------  -------- 
  Adjusted Gross 
   Profit(1)             $51.5    $65.3    $69.1     34.0%      5.8% 
---------------------  -------  -------  -------  --------  -------- 
  Operating Loss       $(23.7)  $(21.7)   $(4.5)     80.8%     79.1% 
---------------------  -------  -------  -------  --------  -------- 
  Adjusted EBITDA(1)     $16.5    $26.3    $29.5     78.1%     11.8% 
---------------------  -------  -------  -------  --------  -------- 
  Adjusted EBITDA 
   Margin(1)             16.7%    22.4%    25.2%    854bps    284bps 
---------------------  -------  -------  -------  --------  -------- 


(1) Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted Gross Profit and Adjusted EBITDA Margin are non-GAAP measures, and accordingly are not standardized measures and may not be comparable to similar measures used by other companies. See Definition and Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Measures below. For a reconciliation of Operating Loss to Adjusted EBITDA as well as Gross Profit to Adjusted Gross Profit, see the reconciliation tables appended to this release.

Second Quarter and Recent Highlights

   -- Retail Updates 
 
          -- Opened the Company's 86th retail location, subsequent to quarter 
             end. 
 
          -- Q2 retail sales increased 1% sequentially from Q1, with total 
             transactions up 6%. 
 
          -- The Company has opened 10 Florida stores thus far in 2023, 
             bringing its Florida store total to 62 open locations to date. The 
             Company plans to exit 2023 with a total of Florida 64 stores, 
             compared to 52 to start the year. 
 
          -- Completed re-brand of full fleet of Florida stores to AYR Cannabis 
             Dispensary. 
 
          -- Announced agreement to acquire third Ohio dispensary license. 
 
          -- Announced an exclusive licensing and retail agreement in Florida 
             with Kiva Confections, a global leader in cannabis edibles. As 
             previously announced, the agreement will bring Kiva's collection 
             of award-winning cannabis edibles to the Florida market for the 
             first time via AYR's retail locations across the state. 
 
   -- Corporate Updates 
 
          -- Closed the acquisition of Tahoe Hydroponics, an award-winning 
             cultivator and one of Nevada's top producers of high-quality 
             cannabis flower. 
 
          -- As previously announced, reached an agreement to amend the terms 
             of contingent consideration under the membership interest purchase 
             agreements of GSD NJ, LLC and Sira Naturals Inc. 
 
          -- As previously announced, reached contingent agreements to defer 
             approximately $69 million of promissory note payments. 
 
          -- Subsequent to quarter end, closed a $40 million refinancing and 
             upsizing of its existing mortgage for its Gainesville cultivation 
             facility, contributing a net $14 million of cash proceeds. The new 
             loan carries an interest rate of 5-year FHLB Rate + 4%.


Financing and Capital Structure

   -- The Company deployed $6.7 million of capital expenditures in Q2 and ended 
      the quarter with a cash balance of $60.0 million. 
 
   -- The Company has approximately 77.2 million fully diluted shares 
      outstanding based on a treasury method calculation.i 
 
   -- Subsequent to the quarter end, the Company closed on a $40 million 
      refinancing and upsizing of its existing mortgage for its Gainesville 
      cultivation facility. Following the July 7, 2023, paydown of its existing 
      $25.3 million mortgage, the Company had a pro forma cash balance of $74 
      million. 
 
   -- In 2023, the Company filed an application with the U.S. Internal Revenue 
      Service ("IRS") for the employee retention credit ("ERC"), as originally 
      enacted through the U.S. Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security 
      Act. The Company anticipates receiving $12.3 million relating to its ERC 
      application.


Outlook

The Company remains committed to its financial health and is positioning itself to achieve sustainable long-term growth and profitability across all markets of operation. AYR expects to generate revenue and Adjusted EBITDA growth in the second half of 2023 and into 2024 and to generate positive GAAP cash flow from operations for the calendar year 2023.

AYR’s expectations for future results are based on the assumptions and risks detailed in its Management’s Discussion and Analysis (“MD&A”) for the period ended June 30, 2023, as filed on SEDAR+ and with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”).

 

Thank you for consideration.

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Continue reading AYR Wellness Reports Second Quarter 2023 Results – Cannabis Company High on Margins
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Happy Labor Day, 2023 – To the Great American Worker! Labor Day and It’s American History

Happy Labor Day, 2023

Observed the first Monday in September, Labor Day is an annual celebration of the social and economic achievements of American workers.

The holiday is rooted in the late nineteenth century, when labor activists pushed for a federal holiday to recognize the many contributions workers have made to America’s strength, prosperity, and well-being.

 

Before it was a federal holiday, Labor Day was recognized by labor activists and individual states. After municipal ordinances were passed in 1885 and 1886, a movement developed to secure state legislation. New York was the first state to introduce a bill, but Oregon was the first to pass a law recognizing Labor Day, on February 21, 1887.

 

During 1887, four more states – Colorado, Massachusetts, New Jersey and New York – passed laws creating a Labor Day holiday.

 

By the end of the decade Connecticut, Nebraska and Pennsylvania had followed suit.

By 1894, 23 more states had adopted the holiday, and on June 28, 1894, Congress passed an act making the first Monday in September of each year a legal holiday.

 

Who first proposed the holiday for workers?

It’s not entirely clear, but two workers can make a solid claim to the Founder of Labor Day title.

Some records show that in 1882, Peter J. McGuire, general secretary of the

Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners and a co-founder of the American Federation of Labor,

suggested setting aside a day for a “general holiday for the laboring classes” to honor those

“who from rude nature have delved and carved all the grandeur we behold.”

 

But Peter McGuire’s place in Labor Day history has not gone unchallenged.

Many believe that machinist Matthew Maguire, not Peter McGuire, founded the holiday.

Recent research seems to support the contention that Matthew Maguire,

later the secretary of Local 344 of the International Association of Machinists in Paterson, New Jersey,

proposed the holiday in 1882 while serving as secretary of the Central Labor Union in New York.

According to the New Jersey Historical Society, after President Cleveland signed the law creating a national Labor Day,

the Paterson Morning Call published an opinion piece stating that

“the souvenir pen should go to Alderman Matthew Maguire of this city, who is the undisputed author of Labor Day as a holiday.”

Both Maguire and McGuire attended the country’s first Labor Day parade in New York City that year.

The First Labor Day

The first Labor Day holiday was celebrated on Tuesday, September 5, 1882, in New York City,

in accordance with the plans of the Central Labor Union.

The Central Labor Union held its second Labor Day holiday just a year later, on September 5, 1883.

By 1894, 23 more states had adopted the holiday, and on June 28, 1894, President Grover Cleveland signed a law making the first Monday in September of each year a national holiday.

Many Americans celebrate Labor Day with parades, picnics and parties – festivities very similar to those outlined by the first proposal for a holiday,

which suggested that the day should be observed with – a street parade to exhibit “the strength and esprit de corps of the trade and labor organizations”

of the community, followed by a festival for the recreation and amusement of the workers and their families.

This became the pattern for the celebrations of Labor Day.

Speeches by prominent men and women were introduced later, as more emphasis was placed upon the economic and civic significance of the holiday.

Still later, by a resolution of the American Federation of Labor convention of 1909, the Sunday preceding Labor Day was adopted as Labor Sunday

and dedicated to the spiritual and educational aspects of the labor movement.

 

 

American labor has raised the nation’s standard of living and contributed to the greatest production

the world has ever known and the labor movement has brought us closer

to the realization of our traditional ideals of economic and political democracy.

 

It is appropriate, therefore, that the nation pays tribute on Labor Day to the creator of so much of the nation’s strength, freedom, and leadership

– the American worker.

 

Thank you for consideration.

Inspirational Technologies
InspirationalTech.org for your Health Wellness Beauty and Inspirational Goals

For More Information on Cannabis and CBD and YOU.

AllRightsReserved2023

1st Hemp USA News is a resource of Inspirational Technologies (2023)
Continue reading Happy Labor Day, 2023 – To the Great American Worker! Labor Day and It’s American History