Shareholders of Aphria (APHA) were hoping the cannabis company would once again post a net profit when it reported its fiscal fourth-quarter 2020 results on Wednesday morning. They didn't get their wish.
In fact, for the period that ended May 31, the Canadian pot purveyor reported quite a dramatic loss of 98.8 million Canadian dollars ($73.9 million), or CA$0.39 ($0.29) per share, in vivid contrast to the CA$5.7 million ($4.3 million) profit it earned in the previous quarter.
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However, much of that bottom-line plunge was due to the CA$64 million ($48 million) in impairment charges it took "with respect to certain of the Company's international businesses in response to the COVID-19 pandemic."
More encouragingly, Aphria managed to grow its net revenue by 5% over the fiscal Q3 figure, and 18% on a year-over-year basis to CA$152 million ($114 million). This was despite a 10% year-over-year drop in kilograms and kilogram equivalents sold.
On average, analysts tracking the stock estimated it would book just under CA$147 million ($110 million) on the top line, with a per-share net loss of CA$0.04 ($0.03).
The company did not proffer guidance, but CEO Irwin Simon did have this to say: "With exciting new product categories and line extensions launching in the very near future, we believe our award-winning adult-use portfolio remains unmatched in the industry."
Aphria also said that it has filed a prospectus statement for an at-the-market secondary common stock issue of up to $100 million. As of this writing, its market capitalization was $1.29 billion.
Investors were not pleased with what they saw. They bid the marijuana stock down by more than 19% on Wednesday, while the broader market as measured by the S&P 500 index rose 1.24%.
