(Reuters) – Aurora Cannabis Inc on Monday missed Wall Street expectations for fourth-quarter revenue as pandemic-related restrictions weighed down consumer demand, leading Canadian provinces to cut orders.
U.S.-listed shares of the company, which also posted a bigger-than-expected quarterly loss, were down 2% in extended trading.
After more than three years into Canada’s legalization of recreational cannabis, profits have been wearing thin at most pot firms, weighed down by fewer-than-expected retail stores, cheaper rates on the black market and sluggish overseas growth.
Aurora last week said it would shut down a facility in Edmonton, Alberta, without disclosing the number of employees that would be impacted by the move.
The company laid off hundreds of employees last year to mitigate the impact of the pandemic, shut facilities and amended its loan agreements.
Net revenue at its consumer cannabis business, its second largest segment, slumped 45% to C$19.5 million ($15.41 million) in the fourth quarter.
The Edmonton-based company’s total net revenue fell 20% to C$54.8 million, below Refinitiv analysts’ expectations of C$56.28 million.
Aurora sold 11,346 kilograms of cannabis in the quarter, compared with 16,748 kilograms a year earlier.
On an adjusted basis, the company lost 68 Canadian cents per share, compared with Wall Street expectations for a loss of 27 Canadian cents per share, according to data from Refinitiv.
($1 = 1.2652 Canadian dollars)
(Reporting by Rithika Krishna in Bengaluru; Editing by Vinay Dwivedi)
