LEAMINGTON, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - April 8, 2015) - Aphria Inc. ("Aphria" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE:APH) is pleased to announce that it has entered into agreements with two national organizations committed to helping first responders and veterans deal with chronic ailments. Each of the agreements has a three-year term and is renewable for three successive periods of one-year. The first contract is effective immediately while the second will become effective on June 1, 2015.
While detailed financial terms remain confidential, under the terms of the agreements, each of the organizations will refer patients to Aphria. After accounting for applicable variable costs, the contribution to operating income from sales generated by these two referral contracts is expected to be in the range of 25%-30% of revenue.
"We are delivering on our two-prong retail and wholesale growth strategy while raising the profile of the Aphria brand and leveraging our unique cost advantages," stated Vic Neufeld, President and Chief Executive Officer of Aphria. "In our first four months as a public company we have registered more than 500 patients, built up our medical marijuana inventory to approximately 300 kilograms, completed our first two wholesale shipments and, as announced today, entered into two new contracts that provide us with a broad reach of potential patient acquisitions. As much as 50% of our annualized growing capacity, including the incremental capacity from the first phase of our facility expansion announced several weeks ago, will be required to service these two agreements."
About Aphria
Aphria, a company continued under the laws of the Province of Ontario and based in Leamington, Ontario, is in the business of producing, supplying and selling medical marijuana pursuant to the Marihuana for Medical Purposes Regulations (the "MMPR"). Under the MMPR, Health Canada is responsible for the oversight of commercial medical marijuana growers such as Aphria. Aphria's common shares are listed on the TSX Venture Exchange under the ticker symbol "APH".
CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS: Certain information in this news release constitutes forward-looking statements under applicable securities laws. Any statements that are contained in this news release that are not statements of historical fact may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are often identified by terms such as "may", "should", "anticipate", "expect", "intend" and similar expressions. Forward-looking statements in this news release include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to estimated margins and expectations for future growing capacity. Forward-looking statements necessarily involve known and unknown risks, including, without limitation, risks associated with general economic conditions; adverse industry events; marketing costs; loss of markets; future legislative and regulatory developments involving medical marijuana; inability to access sufficient capital from internal and external sources, and/or inability to access sufficient capital on favourable terms; the medical marijuana industry in Canada generally, income tax and regulatory matters; the ability of Aphria to implement its business strategies; competition; crop failure; currency and interest rate fluctuations and other risks.
Readers are cautioned that the foregoing list is not exhaustive. Readers are further cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements as there can be no assurance that the plans, intentions or expectations upon which they are placed will occur. Such information, although considered reasonable by management at the time of preparation, may prove to be incorrect and actual results may differ materially from those anticipated. Forward-looking statements contained in this news release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement.
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Source: Aphria Inc.