8/9/2022

speaker
Frances
Call Moderator

Good morning. Thank you for attending today's Acreage second quarter 2022 earnings call. My name is Frances and I'll be your moderator today. All lines will be muted during the presentation portion of the call with an opportunity for questions and answers at the end. If you'd like to ask a question, please press star one on your telephone keypad. I would now like to pass the conference over to our host, Steve Gertz, Chief Financial Officer of Acreage Holdings.

speaker
Steve Gertz / Peter Caldini
Chief Financial Officer / Chief Executive Officer

Good morning, everyone, and welcome to the Acreage Holdings second quarter conference call. Joining me today is Peter Caldini, our chief executive officer. Today's call will be archived on our investor relations website at investors.acreageholdings.com. Before we begin, I would like to remind listeners that today's call contains forward-looking statements subject to various risks, uncertainties, and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those forward-looking statements. Any such information and statements should be taken in conjunction with cautionary statements in our press releases and risk factor discussions in our public filings found on CDAR and EDGAR, as well as our investor website. Any forward-looking statements reflect management's expectations as of today's date, and we assume no obligation to update them other than as may be required by applicable securities law. I will now turn the call over to Peter. Thanks, Steve, and good morning, everyone. As our results continue to demonstrate, Acreage is a transformed company, and I am very encouraged by the strong performance we achieved in the second quarter. Revenue was up 39% year-over-year to $61.4 million, largely due to contributions from our high-quality cultivation and retail assets in Ohio, as well as the official opening of the adult-use market in New Jersey. Revenue was also up 8% quarter-over-quarter, again primarily driven by the opening of the adult-use market in New Jersey. This revenue was somewhat offset by declines within our Oregon operations that were held for sale. However, we are pleased to report that subsequent to the quarter, we officially concluded our operations in Oregon with the sale of our four retail dispensaries in that state. Much like the first quarter this year, revenue for the second quarter of 2022 continued to be impacted by significant pricing pressure across a number of markets, as well as lingering pandemic-related challenges. In addition, Inflation is impacting the discretionary spending of our consumers, which is having a negative impact on our revenue. Yet despite these challenges, we have continued to deliver thanks to the solid platform we built and have continued to strengthen. Looking at the cost side, we continue to remain diligent in the control of our discretionary spending. Unfortunately, inflation on most of our input costs has resulted in both increased cost of goods and administrative expenses. In a period where we're seeing selling price declines and an increase in our cost of operations, maintaining margins and profitability has been challenging. But fortunately, the trajectory we've been on since the implementation of our three key strategic priorities has been positive. with the latest quarter marking our sixth consecutive quarter of positive adjusted EBITDA. Adjusted EBITDA for the second quarter of 2022 was 10.4 million, increasing 28% compared to the second quarter of 2021 and a 20% improvement sequentially from the first quarter of 2022. Q2 was also an exciting quarter for our team as we began to realize the benefits of the significant efforts made over the last year to prepare for adult use sales in New Jersey. This was a monumental moment for us, and I am proud of how we came together to successfully launch when the market opened on April 21st. Revenue in New Jersey was up significantly for the second quarter of 2022, both when compared year over year and quarter over quarter on approximately two months of adult use sales. We are very satisfied with our initial retail sales performance at our two adult use dispensaries in Egg Harbor Township and Williamstown. We look forward to operating a third adult use dispensary in New Jersey the timing of which will be determined once we have resolved municipal zoning concerns. We are not, however, satisfied with our wholesale and cultivation capabilities in the state, and we do not feel it's consistent with the standards we've established at Acres. The expansion of our Egg Harbor cultivation facility was completed quickly to ensure that we were ready for the start of adult use sales. Unfortunately, as a result of the focus on meeting this deadline, we did not optimize our processes and staffing and we were unable to complete some of the capital upgrades necessary for a broader product selection. We are aggressively working on correcting some of these shortcomings now and we believe that with the improved yields and enhanced quality, we will further improve our performance in this growing market and solidify our position as one of the top tier wholesalers and retailers in New Jersey. Our experts in New Jersey have given us valuable insight into how to successfully launch within a new adult use market and are informing our decisions as we continue to make steady progress building out our New York strategy in advance of the pending adult use market. In the second quarter, we completed the first phase of expansion on our cultivation facility in Syracuse, New York. Our expanded cultivation in New York positions us to further support wholesale demand in the existing medical market and prepares us for the impending launch of adult new sales. Additionally, we continue to review our network of retail dispensaries in the state to ensure that we have a solid footprint for the anticipated increase in activity that will come with the introduction of adult use. As an added benefit of the expansion of our New York cultivation facility, after the quarter we were able to launch whole flour that was within the state's strict microbial limit, making acreage one of the only producers in New York with the capability to supply non-remediated whole flour in the market. Increasing pricing pressure in the Connecticut market has negatively impacted our revenue performance. However, we will remain committed to this market and remain excited by its future opportunity. We continue to prepare for adult use and pursue opportunities to further increase our leadership position through vertical integration in that state. Turning to Maine, we announced during the quarter that we had successfully completed the consolidation and adult use conversion of our remaining retail location that had been operating under a managed service agreement. With this initiative complete, we are looking at consolidation and conversion of the cultivation facility, which we expect to be completed in the coming quarters. In Massachusetts, Our retail dispensaries have performed well in a difficult retail environment, but the pricing pressure that exists in this market is intense, which is negatively impacting revenue. In response, we continue to leverage our premium position with Abotnip and Superflux to continue to drive at wholesale and retail levels. In Pennsylvania, our high-quality products and innovation have helped insulate us to some degree against the aggressive pricing pressure in that market. Our products remain very much in demand in this key wholesale market. Next, in Illinois, our year-over-year growth was very strong as we lapped the expansion of our cultivation facility that was completed in the second quarter of 2021. We also saw slight growth both quarter-over-quarter as the wholesale market in the state continues to develop. We believe that the wholesale market will open up even further for us as additional dispensaries come online in the future. And lastly, I am very happy with our sustained leadership position in the state of Ohio, where our operations continue to perform very well. During the first half of the year, we rolled out new, innovative, edible formats and increase the quantity of the products we produce in the state, which has helped grow revenue both year over year and quarter over quarter. Our strategy to accelerate growth in our core markets, drive profitability, and strengthen our balance sheet has served us well, focusing our team on maintaining a disciplined financial approach with a strong operational strength. guiding us through more challenging market conditions. As we move into the second half of the year, we will maintain our focus on delivering and expanding our premium product portfolio to better serve our existing customers and attract new ones. We will also continue to explore potential partnerships where we see strong opportunities. We believe our commitment to innovation and a solid foundation in our core market will be the key drivers for us as we maintain our disciplined strategy to deliver value for our shareholders. Before I turn the call over to Steve for a detailed look at our financials for the second quarter, I want to finish by taking a moment to acknowledge the amazing work our team has done during the first half of the year. Despite the ongoing challenges in the market, we have continued to find opportunities to grow and deliver results. And this is all because of the work of our committed and passionate team members. We went live with adult youth sales in New Jersey, integrated Ohio into our organization, are preparing for upcoming adult use markets in New York and Connecticut, and enhancing our premium wholesale operations in several states across our footprint. I want to thank everyone for the hard work that has gone into these initiatives. This strategy has built us a strong platform for future growth, and we are more excited than ever about the future of ACREs. I will now turn the call over to Steve to discuss the financial results for the quarter in more detail before we open the call to questions. Thank you, Peter. Revenue for the second quarter of 2022 was $61.4 million, a 39% increase compared to the second quarter of 2021. The increase in revenue was largely due to the addition of operations in Ohio, the expansion of our presence in Maine and Illinois, and New Jersey adult-use sales beginning in late April. The year-over-year revenue growth was somewhat offset by declines in select markets due to pricing pressures and by revenue declines within the company's Oregon operations that were held for sale. Additionally, wholesale revenue for the second quarter of 2021 included a large bulk sale that did not recur in the current year. Additionally, total revenue for the second quarter of 2022 improved sequentially by 4.5 million, or 8%, compared to the first quarter of 2022. Excluding the company's Oregon operations, which were not considered core, however, revenue for the three months ended June 30, 2022 increased by 9% on a sequential basis. Retail revenue increased 64% for the quarter compared to the second quarter of 2021 and was driven primarily by the acquisition of Ohio on October 1st, 2021. Excluding the impact of acquisitions and divestitures and the revenue performance of our Oregon operations, which are being held for sale, retail revenue increased by 14%. This organic growth was primarily a result of New Jersey adult use sales beginning in late April and increased marketing initiatives and the introduction of innovative new products across various states. Wholesale revenue declined by 8% versus the comparable period in 2021. As mentioned, included in the wholesale sales for the second quarter of 2021 was a large bulk sale that did not recur in the current year. Excluding this non-recurring transaction and the impact of acquisitions and divestitures, wholesale revenue declined by 3%. Our increased capacity, as well as our maturing operation in Illinois, which resulted in higher yields and better product mixes, were unable to offset wholesale price declines in select markets. Total growth profit for the second quarter of 2022 was $30.6 million, an increase of $6.7 million, or 28%, compared to Q2 2021. Revenue growth drove this increase, and gross margin also continued to benefit from the vertical integration of our operations as a greater portion of the products sold in our retail dispensaries was sourced internally from our own production and processing operations. Gross profit generated from this internally produced product includes both the wholesale and retail margins. Offsetting these benefits were selling price declines due to competition and an increase in our cost of operations due to inflation. Overall, maintaining margins in this environment has been challenging. Gross margin during the quarter was 50%, compared to 54% in the second quarter of 2021 and 52% in the first quarter of 2022. Gross margin was impacted in the second quarter as efficiencies gained from further economies of scale were unable to offset price declines and cost increases due to inflation. Total operating expenses for the quarter were $27.3 million, a decrease of $3.3 million or 11% from the second quarter of 2021, and a sequential decline of $4.9 million or 15% from the first quarter of 2022. Increases in compensation and general administrative expenses were more than offset by reductions in equity-based compensation expense, losses on notes receivable, and depreciation and amortization expenses. Excluding equity-based compensation expenses, losses, write-downs and recoveries, impairments, and depreciation and amortization expenses, all of which are non-cash in nature, total operating expenses for the three months ended June 30 of 2022 increased $4.9 million or 28% compared to the corresponding period of fiscal 2021. Adjusted EBITDA, which excludes impairments, equity-based compensation expense, and unusual items that are not expected to recur in future periods, was $10.4 million for the second quarter of 2022, increasing 28% compared to adjusted EBITDA of $8.1 million in the second quarter of 2021, and a sequential improvement of 20% from adjusted EVA-DA of 8.6 million in the first quarter of 2022. Adjusted EVA-DA from core operations, which excludes markets where the company has entered into definitive agreements to exit and startup ventures, was 10.9 million for the current quarter, indicating that the company's core markets are still being negatively impacted by its non-core operations. Consolidated EBITDA during the quarter was negative 7.1 million compared to a consolidated EBITDA of negative 6.7 million in the previous year's comparable period. Lastly, net loss attributable to acreage for the quarter was 9.9 million compared to a loss of 2.6 million in the second quarter of 2021. The net loss in the second quarter of 2021 included a large gain on the sale of acreage Florida that did not recur in the current period. During the quarter, we completed the sale of our cultivation and processing facility in Medford, Oregon, and closed the dispensary in Powell, Oregon. Total consideration for the sale of the Medford cultivation and processing facility was $2 million, including $750,000 paid to acreage in February 2021, $500,000 due August 1 of 2022, and the remaining balance of $750,000 due May 1, 2023. As mentioned earlier, following the end of the quarter, we completed the sale of the company's four Oregon retail distilleries, branded as Cannabis & Co., which has effectively concluded our operations in Oregon. Closing with our balance sheet, we ended the quarter with $29.3 million in cash and restricted cash on hand, and $3.4 million in short-term investments, which can be readily converted into cash. As of June 30, 2022, $100 million was drawn under the credit facility we entered into in the fourth quarter of 2021, and a further $50 million is available in future periods under a committed accordion option once certain predetermined milestones are achieved. Acreage intends to use the cash on hand and the proceeds of the credit facility to fund expansion initiatives and provide additional working capital. With that, I will now have the operator open the line for questions. Operator, please go ahead.

speaker
Frances
Call Moderator

Thank you. If you would like to ask a question, please press star followed by 1 on your telephone keypad. If for any reason you'd like to remove your question, press star 2. Again, to ask a question, that is star one. As a reminder, if you're using a speakerphone, please remember to pick up your handset before asking your question. Our first question comes from Vivian Azer with Cowan. Please go ahead.

Disclaimer

This conference call transcript was computer generated and almost certianly contains errors. This transcript is provided for information purposes only.EarningsCall, LLC makes no representation about the accuracy of the aforementioned transcript, and you are cautioned not to place undue reliance on the information provided by the transcript.

-

-

Investor presentation