Author: Matt Lamers

[ad_1] Canadian Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland was warned last fall about systemic “financial distress” facing the country’s cannabis producers, including skyrocketing tax debt and widespread insolvencies. The calamities facing the industry were spelled out in briefing materials obtained through a freedom-of-information request and shared with MJBizDaily. One of the documents included with the briefing note, drafted by an official within the Department of Finance Canada’s Tax Policy Branch, updates Freeland on the financial state of Canada’s adult-use market. According to the report, “It remains the case that after five years of legalization, there are no licensed producers of legal cannabis…

[ad_1] Medical cannabis companies from Canada and Britain are joining forces to create a global, vertically integrated business to tap opportunities in Europe and beyond. Nova Scotia medical cannabis cultivator and processor Aqualitas has signed a definitive agreement to merge with Cannaray Limited, a European medical marijuana company headquartered in London. The merged company will be based in London and led by Cannaray CEO M. Scott Maguire, a spokesperson told MJBizDaily via email. The name of the combined company will be announced shortly. In 2023, the combined revenue of Aqualitas and Cannaray amounted to approximately $51 million (69 million Canadian…

[ad_1] IM Cannabis Corp. (IMC) is proposing a reverse merger with Israeli biotechnology firm Kadimastem in which it would spin out – and potentially sell – its existing medical marijuana operations in Israel and Germany. IMC, also headquartered in Israeli, said in a news release it entered into a nonbinding reverse merger and loan agreement with Kadimastem in which IMC shareholders would own 12% of a newly created subsidiary of IMC, while Kadimastem shareholders would hold 88%. The new company that will exist upon completion of the proposed transaction will change its business from medical cannabis to biotechnology, according to…

[ad_1] Dutch authorities have ironed out issues involving the Netherlands’ cannabis experiment, government and industry officials told MJBizDaily. The experiment, which underwent a startup phase in December ahead of the full launch later this year, aims to close the supply chain and bring it under the watchful eye of federal regulators for the first time. For decades, the country’s cannabis stores – also called coffee shops – operated in a system where sales were legally tolerated while cultivation remained illegal, meaning stores had to procure illicit marijuana products to sell quasi-legally. Officials said the startup phase, which involved two Dutch…

[ad_1] The Australian Securities Exchange halted trading of Cann Group Limited’s shares after the company’s auditor flagged concerns over financing and the cannabis producer’s first-half operating loss. Cann Group reported an operating loss of 14.3 million Australian dollars ($9.5 million) for the first half ended Dec. 31, 2023, which was a 24% improvement compared with a first-half loss of AU$18.8 million the previous year. However, auditor William Buck Audit (Vic) Pty noted that the Melbourne, Victoria-based company was unable to confirm financial commitments to provide sufficient funding to support the group as a going concern. “We have been unable to…

[ad_1] The lower house of Parliament in the Netherlands rejected the addition of Amsterdam to the country’s cannabis cultivation and distribution experiment, meaning the number of cities set to take part when the pilot fully launches this summer will remain at 10. Parliament also rejected a motion to put the entire project on hold. In the experiment, the Dutch government is licensing legal adult-use cannabis cultivation and distribution for the first time. “The experiment will not make access to drugs easier for young people. It just means that the production and distribution will be removed from criminals” Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema…

[ad_1] British Columbia producer Avant Brands reported record net revenue of 26.3 million Canadian dollars ($19.4 million) from the sale of 7,105 kilograms (15,663 pounds) of cannabis. That’s CA$6.2 million more than the CA$20.1 million in net revenue recorded in 2022 from the sale of 3,934 kilograms of cannabis, the company said in its financial results for the fiscal year ended Nov 30, 2023. Avant attributed the increase primarily to impressive CA$1.4 million growth in recreational net sales and CA$5 million growth in international exports. The record sales helped improve Avant’s net loss to CA$1.5 million for the year, 82%…

[ad_1] Canadian cannabis producer Cronos Group cut its loss in half in 2023, reporting a deficit of $74.5 million (101 million Canadian dollars). Consolidated net revenue inched higher in the 2023 fiscal year ended Dec. 31, rising to $87.2 million from $86.7 million in the previous year, according to the company’s full-year business results released last week. In its disclosure, Cronos said the year-over-year increase in sales primarily stemmed from higher cannabis flower and extract revenue in Canada and the initiation of sales in Germany and Australia. The company said in a news release that the increase was partially offset…

[ad_1] (This is the second installment of a two-part series about licensed Canadian cannabis producers’ unpaid excise taxes. Part 1 is available here.) A growing number of Canadian cannabis producers continue to rack up tax debt, which could lead to “a meaningful number” of companies going out of business if they’re unable to make those payments, according to the latest tax data and industry analysts. Federally licensed cannabis producers owed the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) 273.4 million Canadian dollars ($202 million) as of Dec. 29, 2023, marking a 72% increase compared to the figure from about one year earlier, MJBizDaily…

[ad_1] Canadian cannabis firm BZAM, which merged with The Green Organic Dutchman in 2022, has been granted creditor protection to restructure the business and pursue a sale process. The Ontario Superior Court of Justice granted the request for creditor protection for BZAM and its Canadian subsidiaries under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA), the Pitt Meadows, British Columbia-based company said in a Thursday news release. In an affidavit filed with the application for creditor protection, CEO Matthew Milich said the company had accumulated 112.9 million Canadian dollars ($83.2 million) in consolidated liabilities. “The applicants have struggled with cash flow, and…

[ad_1] Australia-based ECS Botanics Holdings reported profitable operations for the six months ended Dec. 31, 2023, on increased medical cannabis revenue. The company’s net profit after tax (NPAT) amounted to 1.2 million Australian dollars ($780,000) in the first six months of the fiscal year, a substantial improvement over the AU$1.4 million loss in the same period one year earlier, according to a news release. Revenue in the same period increased to a record AU$11.3 million, a 66% increase over the previous first-half sales of AU$6.8 million. Free cash flow was AU$400,000. In the release, the company attributed the accelerated growth…

[ad_1] Canada’s federal government collected more excise tax revenue from cannabis than it did from beer and wine for the first time last year. That comes as a parliamentary committee is recommending the government ease up on the cannabis tax. In the 2022-23 fiscal year ended March 31, the federal government received 610.1 million Canadian dollars ($501 million) from excise duties applied to beer. According to the country’s Public Accounts, which provides detail on the government’s financial operations, in the same fiscal year, excise from other products was: CA$277.6 million from wine. CA$204.4 million from manufactured tobacco. Federal excise duties…