The international expansion Aurora Cannabis (ACB 1.75%) shareholders have been waiting for took another step forward on Monday. A large marijuana production facility in Bradford, Ontario, received its European Union Good Manufacturing Practice (EU-GMP) certification.
The Aurora River site is the company's third and largest facility licensed to produce marijuana for consumption in Canada and throughout the EU. The new certification raises Aurora's ability to serve the growing market for medical marijuana in Germany and the rest of the European Union by 237% to 39,800 kilograms annually.
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Making ends meet
Aurora has quickly expanded its operations to 25 countries on three continents, and that growth hasn't come cheap. During the third quarter, funding that expansion abroad helped push Aurora's sales, general, and administration, expenses to CA$81.1 million. Meanwhile, international medical revenue grew to an annualized CA$20.0 million during the quarter, which wasn't nearly enough to cover all those added expenses.
While an EU-GMP certification for increased capacity is a vital step on the path to significant medical marijuana sales abroad, the first two Canadian facilities to receive that green light already gave Aurora's European operation a lot of room to grow. And Aurora's German facility can produce 2,100 kilograms per year, which is probably enough capacity to meet demand in 2020 there without any imports from Canada.
