Decibel Announces Fourth Quarter Results with Strong Net Revenue Growth and Sixth Period of Consecutive Positive Adjusted EBITDA
CALGARY, AB, April 22, 2022 /CNW/ - Decibel Cannabis Company Inc. (the "Company" or "Decibel") (TSXV: DB) (OTCQB: DBCCF), a premium cannabis producer, is pleased to announce its year-end audited financial results for the three and twelve month periods ending December 31, 2021.
"Decibel continues to execute on its strategy to accelerate revenue growth and deliver new, unique and innovative choices to cannabis consumers. The success achieved through 2021 with record market share demonstrates the strength we've created in our brands, and our dedication towards our customers", said Paul Wilson, CEO of Decibel. "Our momentum has accelerated into 2022, and we are gaining great traction across our products and brands, particularly with our recent infused product launches over late Q4 and first quarter of 2022."
- Net revenue of $52 million in 2021, an increase of 75% from 2020.
- Gross profit of $18 million in 2021, an increase of 53% from 2020.
- Positive adjusted EBITDA of $7.4 million in 2021, an increase of 386% from 2020.
- Net Revenue: Net revenue was $14 million in Q4, a 5% increase over the prior quarter, driven by the launch of Decibel's new infused pre-roll lines and continued growth in demand for flower, vape and concentrate products. This was partially impacted by price compression in the flower segment and slower retail sales from increased competition. Net revenue grew by 23% over the comparative 2020 quarter.
- Gross Margin: Gross margin was 26% in Q4, compared to 31% in the prior quarter. The decrease in gross margin is attributable to a combination of permanent and transitory impacts.
- Permanent impacts include price compression in Qwest Family of Brands' products by approximately 25% and a 4% reduction in retail sales margins due to higher competition.
- Transitory impacts include a $345 thousand provision for aged inventory, $738 thousand in air freight charges due to supply chain challenges, and $369 thousand of non-cash amortization, and $891 thousand of write downs.
- Adjusting for the impact of the transitory factors, normalized gross margin would have been 43%.
- Positive Adj. EBITDA: The Company achieved $1.5 million of adjusted EBITDA in Q4, its sixth consecutive quarter of positive adjusted EBITDA and an improvement of 32% from the prior year.
- Flower Sales: 808 kilograms sold in Q4, with an average wholesale net price per gram of $5.70, an increase 64% and a decrease of 25%, respectively, over the prior quarter. The decline in price per gram is due to increased competition in the premium segment to which the Company reduced Qwest Family of Brands pricing by approximately 25% to remain in line with other premium cannabis products. Additionally, overall price per gram declined due to a higher contribution from Qwest and General Admission products that have a lower price per unit as the Company continued to broaden its product offerings to its consumers.
- Derivative Sales: $6.9 million of net sales of vape, infused, and concentrate products in Q4, a 5% increase from the prior quarter. Sales growth was driven by increased demand for vape and concentrate products, as well as the launch of a new infused pre-roll line in late Q4.
- Retail Sales: $2.5 million of retail sales, a 17% decline over the prior quarter, primarily driven by new entrants into the Saskatchewan retail market, partially offset by Alberta retail sales growth.
- Harvests & Yields: Decibel harvested 1,059 kilograms of dried flower material in Q4, representing substantial growth over prior periods as Thunderchild achieved run rate harvests. Yields from the Thunderchild Cultivation Facility fell below management estimates, with a facility upgrade necessary to further enhance product quality and contribute to higher yields, to better meet growing demand for Decibel products. To reinforce the Company's commitment to quality products, it accelerated the implementation of the planned infrastructure optimization at its Thunderchild Cultivation Facility, which are expected to be completed by end of April.
- Working Capital: Cash used in operations was $5.1 million in the fourth quarter. The Company has made significant investments in working capital to meet the growing demand for Decibel brands and products, helping the Company achieve its aggressive sales growth and preparing for strong launches of infused products in the first quarter of 2022. Additionally, the Company identified certain supply chain risks related to inventory procurement for packaging and vape carts from overseas manufacturers. As a result, the Company invested in the fourth quarter to air freight inventory and hold more inventory than historical levels to mitigate against these risks.
- Debt Financing in Place to Repay Convertible Debentures: On February 1, 2022, the Company closed a debt financing with connectFirst Credit Union in respect of $54 million of debt capital over a 5-year term. The Company has two facilities that remain undrawn:
- $12 million additional term debt earmarked for repayment of the Company's convertible debentures; and
- $7.5 million accordion to support future growth initiatives, with availability subject to a trailing twelve month funded debt to EBITDA ratio of less than or equal to 4.00:1.00.
The Company anticipates for the three-month period ending March 31, 2022:
- Net revenue between $16.5 and $17.5 million, compared to $12.6 million in Q1 2021
- Exiting Q1 2022 with a record 4.0% recreational national market share
Year End and Quarterly Financial Highlights
Three months ended | Year ended | ||||||
2021 | 2020 | 2021 | 2020 | ||||
(thousands of Canadian dollars) | |||||||
Gross wholesale revenue of flower | $5,500 | $3,856 | $18,720 | $12,360 | |||
Net wholesale revenue of flower | $4,605 | $3,243 | $15,804 | $10,386 | |||
Kilograms of flower sold | 808 | 378 | 2,181 | 1,160 | |||
Average wholesale flower gross pricing per gram | $6.80 | $10.21 | $8.58 | $10.17 | |||
Average wholesale flower net pricing per gram | $5.70 | $8.58 | $7.25 | $8.47 | |||
Kilograms of salable cannabis harvested | 1,059 | 327 | 2,808 | 1,140 | |||
Gross wholesale revenue of extracts | $11,722 | $6,078 | $37,270 | $7,043 | |||
Net wholesale revenue of extracts | $6,893 | $4,528 | $24,747 | $5,312 | |||
Number of retail stores | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | |||
Retail revenue | $2,520 | $3,654 | $11,902 | $14,232 | |||
Total | |||||||
Gross revenue | $19,742 | $13,588 | $67,892 | $33,635 | |||
Net revenue | $14,018 | $11,425 | $52,453 | $29,930 | |||
Gross profit before fair value adjustments | $3,689 | $4,519 | $17,863 | $11,683 | |||
Gross margin | 26% | 40% | 34% | 39% | |||
Adjusted EBITDA 1 | $1,450 | $1,102 | $7,417 | $1,527 | |||
Cash flow from operations | ($5,133) | $1,343 | ($17,160) | ($4,238) | |||
Link to Decibel's Investor Presentation
Decibel's audited financial statements for the year ending December 31, 2021 ("Financial Statements") and related Management's Discussion & Analysis ("MD&A") for the three and twelve months ending December 31, 2021, are available under the Company's profile at www.sedar.com. As of December 31, 2021, Decibel was in compliance with all of its financial covenants and expects to remain in compliance for the remainder of its twelve-month forecast period.
1 Adjusted EBITDA is a non-GAAP performance measure. Refer to "Cautionary Statement Regarding Certain Non-GAAP Performance Measures" for further details. |
Decibel is uncompromising in the process and craftsmanship needed to deliver the highest quality cannabis products and retail experiences. Decibel has three operating production houses along with its wholly owned retail business, Prairie Records. The Qwest Estate in Creston, BC is a licensed and operating 26,000 square foot cultivation space which produces the widely championed, rare cultivar-focused brands Qwest and Qwest Reserve, which are sold in six provinces across Canada. Thunderchild Cultivation, is a licensed and operating 80,000 square foot indoor cultivation facility in Battleford, SK. The Plant, Decibel's extraction facility, in Calgary, AB has 15,000 square feet of Health Canada licensed extraction and product development space. This production house will fuel the growth of our brands Qwest, Qwest Reserve, Blendcraft, and General Admission, into new and innovative product formats like concentrates, vapes, edibles and beyond.
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
This news release contains the financial performance metric of Adjusted EBITDA, a measure that is not recognized or defined under IFRS (a "Non-GAAP Measure"). As a result, this data may not be comparable to data presented by other cannabis companies. For an explanation and reconciliation of Adjusted EBITDA to related comparable financial information presented in the Financial Statements prepared in accordance with IFRS, refer to the MD&A for the three and twelve months ended December 31, 2021. The Company believes that Adjusted EBITDA is a useful indicator of operational performance and is specifically used by management to assess the financial and operational performance of the Company.
The Company calculates Adjusted EBITDA as net loss and comprehensive loss excluding unrealized gain on changes in fair value of biological assets, change in fair value of biological assets realized through inventory sold, depreciation and amortization expense, share-based compensation, other income, finance costs, foreign exchange loss, non-cash production costs and severance payments. Non-cash production costs relate to amortization expense allocations included in production costs. Non-GAAP Measures should be considered together with other financial information prepared in accordance with IFRS to enable investors to evaluate the Decibel's operating results, underlying performance and prospects in a manner similar to Decibel's management.
Accordingly, this Non-GAAP Measure is intended to provide additional information and should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for measures of performance prepared in accordance with IFRS.
This news release contains "forward-looking information" and "forward-looking statements" (collectively, "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of the applicable Canadian securities legislation. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking statements and are based on expectations, estimates and projections as at the date of this news release. Any statement that involves discussions with respect to predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions, future events or performance (often but not always using phrases such as "expects", or "does not expect", "is expected", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", "plans", "budget", "scheduled", "forecasts", "estimates", "believes" or "intends" or variations of such words and phrases or stating that certain actions, events or results "may" or "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken to occur or be achieved) are not statements of historical fact and may be forward-looking statements.
In this news release, forward-looking statements relate to, among other things, the Company's ability to meet consumer demand, that the additional capital will accelerate Decibel's sales growth through the Thunderchild facility and new vape and concentrate launch; the Company's ability to grow Qwest, Qwest Reserve and Blendcraft brands into new and innovative product formats, variations and its other business plans and expectations. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable, are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors which may cause the actual results and future events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors include, but are not limited to: risks relating to delays, regulatory changes and impacts, capital requirements, construction impacts, displacement requirements and unforeseen requirements resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, the ability to obtain and maintain licences to retail cannabis products; review of the Company's production facilities by Health Canada and maintenance of licences (including any amendments thereto) from Health Canada in respect thereof; future legislative and regulatory developments involving cannabis; inability to access sufficient capital from internal and external sources, and/or inability to access sufficient capital on favourable terms; the labour market generally and the ability to access, hire and retain employees; general business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties; the satisfaction of conditions precedent under the Company's credit facilities; timing and completion of construction and expansion of the Company's production facilities and retail locations; and the delay or failure to receive board, regulatory or other approvals, including any approvals of the TSX Venture Exchange, as applicable. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements and information contained in this news release. Except as required by law, the Company assumes no obligation to update the forward-looking statements of beliefs, opinions, projections, or other factors, should they change, except as required by law.
These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this press release and the Company disclaims any intent or obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise, other than as required by applicable securities laws.
SOURCE Decibel Cannabis Company Inc.
Contact Stuart Boucher, stuart.boucher@decibelcc.com, 780-619-0310, www.decibelcc.com
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