Marimed Inc

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. My name is Michelle and I will be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the Meramed Inc. First Quarter 2023 Financial Results Conference Call. All lines have been placed on mute to prevent any background noise. After the speaker's remarks, there will be a question and answer session. If you would like to ask a question during this time, simply press star, then the number one on your telephone keypad. If you would like to withdraw your question, please press star, followed by the number two. Thank you. I would now like to turn the conference over to Mr. Steve West, Vice President of Investor Relations, to begin the conference.

Good morning, everyone, and welcome to Merrimed's first quarter 2023 earnings call. Joining me today on the call are John Levine, our Chief Executive Officer, Tim Shaw, our Chief Operating Officer, and Susan Vallaire, our Chief Financial Officer. This call is being recorded and will be archived on our Investor Relations website. Today's call contains forward-looking statements. Actual events or results may differ materially from these forward-looking statements and are subject to various risks and uncertainties. A discussion of these risks and other factors is contained in our filings with the SEC and and our earnings release, which are available on our website. Any forward-looking statements reflect management's expectations as of today, and we assume no obligation to update them unless required by law. Additionally, we will refer to a certain non-GAAP financial information on this call. A reconciliation of these non-GAAP financial measures is included in our earnings release and our supplemental slides. Finally, our second quarter 2023 earnings release is tentatively scheduled to be issued after the market closes on August 2nd, 2023. And our subsequent analyst call will be held the morning of August 3rd, 2023 at 8 a.m. I will now turn a call over to John. Thank you, Steve.

And good morning, everyone. I'm pleased to report that Merrimet had another solid quarter. As we continue to expand our business through the execution of our strategic plans, we remain committed to creating long-term shareholder value. You know, many people think that 13 is a number you should stay away from. Buildings don't have the 13th floor, and most athletes won't wear the number 13 on their uniform. Well, it's actually always been one of my personal favorite numbers. In fact, I wore it with pride as a youth soccer player. And now I have yet another reason to embrace it. For the 13th consecutive quarter, we reported positive adjusted EBITDA, which grew 58 percent sequentially. Another of my favorites is the number four, and I'm proud to say we are remaining on track to generate our fourth consecutive year of positive operating cash flows. Meramed is one of the only cannabis companies to report positive cash flow over this extended period of time. During the first quarter, we closed a $35 million credit facility at favorable terms compared to our industry peers. While Merrimed was capable of funding its long-term growth plan through cash flow from operations, this capital infusion allowed us to immediately accelerate our growth plans. In fact, a little over a month after closing the facility, we announced the acquisition and consolidation of a medical license vertical operation in Quincy, Massachusetts. Subsequent to the end of the quarter, we announced three additional operational milestones. First, we received GMT certification of our production kitchen in Maryland. Second, we received approval in Maryland to produce and sell high-dose edibles once again. Before Maryland regulators changed the rules in the state, our high-dose Eddie's Eddies were the number one selling edible and we set our sights on recapturing that market position in the upcoming months. Third, we finally received the long-awaited regulatory approval to open our adult-use dispensary in Beverly, Massachusetts, and we had our grand opening during the last week of April. We now have three operating dispensaries in Massachusetts, and I could not be more excited about their full revenue potential. We anticipate having more exciting news this year and beyond. Stay tuned. With that, I now turn the call over to Tim for his operational update.