The head of Aurora Cannabis says he’s pleased with the state of the company’s balance sheet and its performance in the most recent quarter despite a sharp selloff of its shares on Wednesday.
The Edmonton-based company’s stock was down nearly 20 per cent in afternoon trading on Wednesday after it announced in its earning release that it expects “temporary declines” in its international markets during the current quarter.
Despite the projected weakness internationally, the company said that its full fiscal 2025 year, which ended March 31, was “exceptional,” and that Aurora posted record revenue and free cash flow numbers.
“We had an incredible fiscal year, we had record annual revenue, we had record adjusted EBITDA, and we delivered a record in free cash flow,” Miguel Martin, Aurora’s CEO, told BNN Bloomberg in a Wednesday interview.
Martin said investor worries about projected international weakness in the first quarter “potentially is the overhang” that sent the company’s shares downward, but he reiterated that the company expects it to be temporary.
“As we stated in our prepared remarks, we see that just in Q1, and getting back to Q2 and the whole year, returning to the same patterns that we’ve seen in the past year. We also said in Q1 we would be free cash flow positive,” he said.
Martin said his overall outlook for the company, which focuses primarily on medical cannabis, is “very strong,” as medical is the fastest growing and highest margin segment in the cannabis sector.
He noted that profitability is a main focus for Aurora, saying the company has a “pristine balance sheet,” minimal debt, and over $180 million in deployable cash.
“Our focus has been going into those areas where we can make money,” he said, “and that’s been international medical cannabis and Canadian medical cannabis.”
