HEXO Corp.

Good morning. I'd like to welcome everyone to HEXO Corp's second quarter 2023 conference call. Joining us today is Charlie Bowman, President and Chief Executive Officer of HEXO Corp, and Julius Ivinsits, Chief Financial Officer of HEXO. As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. Please note that all financial information is provided in Canadian dollars unless otherwise stated, and that a copy of the Q2 results can be accessed on CDAR and EDGAR. To open the call, Charlie and Julius will provide their commentary on the quarter, followed by a question and answer session. To ensure that we get to as many questions as possible, we ask participants to limit themselves to one question. With that, I'll now pass the call over to Charlie Bowman, President and CEO of Hexacorp.

Thanks and good morning, everyone. I'm pleased to review our results from the quarter ending in January 31st, 2023. We'll begin by detailing some of our financial accomplishments, highlight a few of our key products and operational achievements that happened this quarter. Our goal is to take you along the journey to a leaner operation, focused on the quality and near-term profitability. Afterwards, Joyce will walk us through HEXO's financial results. First, before I start, about nine months ago, I had an opportunity to sit down with a number of the original shareholders, none of who have sold a single share of stock. Their advice to me was once we reset the balance sheet is to take off my corporate tie and to focus on the key consumer elements of why people purchase campus. High THC, price and terpenes. Grow the best strains to deliver this consumer experience at the lowest price we can. And that's what we've been doing. So let's address this legacy balance sheet, which was my first priority. Over the past six months, our aggressive cost-cutting strategy has reduced HEXO's overall debt whilst improving our balance sheet. We repaid a total outstanding principal of $40,700,000, which was matured on December the 5th, 2022, with an all-include and unpaid interest. This was the first major step of strengthening our balance sheet. Next, we focused on strengthening our margins with a higher-value product mix leveraging a series of intense cost reductions and pricing disciplines. We focused on quality. We measure it by pharmacopeia test methodology procedures. We focused on the critical items and improved our first pass success rate. All in, our team decreased our operation expenses and significantly reduced our trade receivables. Now, turning to our product and operational developments, we've streamlined our recreational cannabis portfolio focusing on delivering the best consumer experience. We expanded our health and wellness portfolio by addressing unmet consumer needs that only cannabis can address, featured on our ReadyCan medical platform. We've signed a long-term agreement with Entourage Health, securing a multiple channel distribution network into the medical cannabis market over the next three years. This partnership is key to expanding our health and wellness portfolio and accelerates our ability to grow the business and deliver premium cannabis products to more Canadians, but to especially our veterans. In the recreational market, we are focused on creating a unique sensory experience by highlighting some amazing terpenes and high THC strains from our in-house developed TNT strains. We launched three new Redican branded products and two new original Stash products, all using the new TNT strains. These strains were released after about 20 months of research and development, which reinforces our belief that properly balanced terpenes dramatically enhance the cannabis experience. In fact, consumers validated our commitment to this unique cannabis experience. Our first TNT launch, Animal Runts, sold out within 24 hours of its release. Replenishment sold out in two days, And the third order sold out in less than a week. The fourth order is in the process of packaging this week. It was, if not the, fastest selling strain in Ontario cannabis board history. The good news, Violet Fogg is next. As we move towards a leaner portfolio, our longstanding commitment to innovation remains strong. So this next generation of products from our internal genetics program highlights total cannabinoids, high THC percentage, with a wide range of terpenes. It is this continued pursuit to deliver the highest quality cannabis that allows our premium strains to wear the crown on a Redican brand. We produce some of the industry's highest THC percentage, and without a doubt, the total cannabinoid content. And with an incredible breadth of terpenes and flavonoids, it's an outstanding consumer experience. Furthermore, these new cultivars give us a high production yield with greater margins, and the industry's leading terpenes, THC percentage, and total cannabinoids. In fact, that's TNT. So lastly, our team is committed to the ongoing cost efficiency by reducing the overall footprint. We've deployed resources into our profitable segments and eliminated unprofitable business brands. For example, we saw the high growth potential in the pre-roll segment, specifically in the infused pre-roll area. We expanded our capacity in our popular straight edge pre-rolls facility in Fenwick, Ontario at the end of this quarter. This increase fourfold of Ready's straight edge capacity and expands our product offering and capabilities. It enables HEXO to deliver the preferred cannabis experience to all of our ReadyCan and original stash customers. And with that, I'll turn the conversation over to Julius to discuss our financial results.

Thank you, Charlie, and good morning, everyone. I'd like to remind you that all numbers I share today are Canadian dollars, unless otherwise stated. Before diving into the financial results, I'd like to comment on one of our biggest financial challenges, cleaning up the balance sheet. Our strategic redeployment over the last two quarters has included a thorough review of our underperforming assets, and taking a strong action to repair the balance sheet. The early financial results of our fiscal year demonstrate a prudent path towards long-term profitability. As Charlie noted, the debt repayment has helped de-lever our balance sheet, positioning HEXO for long-term financial success. I would also like to note that despite difficult market conditions and intensifying competition, which has put significant pressure on pricing, we have made the decision to maintain our fair pricing as part of taking a sustainable approach and our commitment to quality. Now I will discuss Q2 results. This quarter, the company has hit two important milestones. First, positive net income, and the second, positive cash flow from operations. This is attributable to an 11% reduction in SG&A spending from the prior quarter, along with a 20% reduction in trade accounts receivables. Revenue did, however, slow in the quarter with a 26% decline to $24.2 million when compared to Q1-23 of $35.8 million. The decline can be attributed to a number of different factors. Price reductions by our competitors in our biggest markets, Ontario, Alberta, Quebec, and British Columbia, leading to HEXO market share declines. Also, the revenue was impacted by returns of seasonal products due to low velocity, unavailable supply for certain demanded products, and specific products being placed on hold due to pricing reductions in key Ontario markets. Lastly, we ceased recognition of cannabis-infused revenue as the result of the Trust operationalizing their cannabis selling license. At the same time, our net sales declined 54% relative to Q2-22 due to increased competition and diminished performance of Hexo brand in key markets of Ontario, Alberta, and Quebec, along with the removal of product portfolios from the divested 48 North Business and Zenebus brands. Looking at our adjusted EBITDA in the quarter, we saw a loss of $2.4 million which is an increase of $1.8 million from the prior quarter, Q1-23. On the positive note, the Redican branded sales did increase 9% from Q2-22 as a result of an increased effectiveness on the Alberta market. Furthermore, our increasing gross margins confirmed that we're on track to profitability. On a final note, I would like to thank everyone at HEXO. for their ongoing commitment and positive outlook. We look forward to leveraging this team's experience to become the standard of the excellence in the industry. Thank you for continued support. Now I turn the conversation back to Charlie.