John Schroyer, Author at Green Market Report

Canadian cannabis company High Tide (NASDAQ: HITI) (TSXV: HITI) saw both its revenues and its losses balloon in its final fiscal quarter of 2022, which ended on Halloween.

Though revenues shot up for the year as a whole by 97% to C$356.9 million, High Tide still lost $52.5 million in the fourth quarter alone, and posted a C$70.8 million loss for the fiscal year. That’s a 102% increase in losses from 2021, when High Tide finished the year C$35 million in the red.

The company’s ongoing expansion across Canada and into Germany, however, had CEO Raj Grover touting High Tide’s “record-breaking revenue” and asserting that his company is “the largest revenue-generating cannabis company in Canada with a current annual run rate of over $450 million.”

Grover pointed to High Tide’s solid retail presence nationally in Canada, with 151 storefronts and a customer loyalty program that boasts 950,000 members.

“Our bricks-and-mortar margins have slowly but steadily ticked higher over the last two quarters, and we expect this to continue, which will help amplify the impact of our anticipated same-store sales increases,” Grover said.

Going forward, Grover said, High Tide would slow its pace on mergers and acquisitions, but would still “looking at smaller, highly accretive bricks-and-mortar opportunities” to expand their retail footprint.

High Tide also in the fourth quarter inked a partnership deal with Germany-based Sanity Group, which will give it access to the German adult-use cannabis market once that launches.

The Canadian and German duo “intend to work together on go-to-market strategies, identification of quality M&A opportunities, sourcing of high-quality real estate, expansion within European markets, and regulatory compliance,” according to a press release.

Other highlights from High Tide’s fourth quarter include:

• The acquisition of assets from Choom Holdings Inc. closed, boosting High Tide’s Canadian cannabis retail footprint by nine shops.
• Another acquisition deal was signed, for High Tide to purchase two British Columbia cannabis stores owned by 1171882 B.C. Ltd., which does business as Jimmy’s Cannabis Shop BC.
• High Tide added 13 other new stores in British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario.