Adds analyst comment, shares
Nov 15 (Reuters) – Pot producer Trulieve Cannabis Corp TRUL.CD reported a 64.4% jump in quarterly revenue on Monday that beat market expectations, boosted by a higher retail footprint as demand continued to rise for cannabis and related products.
Shares of Trulieve, which were up 6% this year, are trading 9.63% higher at C$42.48.
The cannabis industry was the biggest beneficiary of pandemic-induced lockdowns, with an uptick in consumer appetite for pot products for recreational and relaxation purposes.
Retail stores are now witnessing even higher traffic, as both new and old customers visit after Canada relaxed its pandemic-era curbs.
Trulieve’s revenue rose 64% from a year earlier to $224.1 million in the three months ended Sept. 31, narrowly beating a Refinitiv IBES estimate of $221.01 million.
The pot producer’s healthy liquidity leaves it “well positioned to invest in profitable growth while focusing on integrating the recently closed Harvest acquisition and building scale in key markets,” Derek Dley, analyst at Canadian Equity Research, wrote in a note.
The company had completed its $2.1 billion buyout of medical pot producer Harvest Health & Recreation Inc HARV.CD in October. Trulieve and Harvest’s combined revenue in the third quarter was around $316 million.
Trulieve and Harvest both opened 13 new dispensaries during the third quarter and operate 155 stores with around 3.5 million square feet of cultivation and production capacity, as of November 15.
Trulieve’s profit rose 7% to $18.6 million in the quarter, which included a $16.4 million one-time compensation and transaction costs related to the Harvest deal.
Operating expenses, however, more than doubled to $87.7 million.
(Reporting by Rithika Krishna in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri)
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