LEAMINGTON, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - Oct. 5, 2015) - Aphria Inc. ("Aphria" or the "Company) (TSX VENTURE:APH) is pleased to announce preliminary highlights of its first quarter for the three months ended August 31, 2015.
Patient registrations continued to show strong growth, with 2,221 patients registered as of August 31, 2015 (compared to 1,050 as of May 31, 2015), more than doubling the company's registered patient count over the course of the quarter.
The Company generated $950,740 in revenues from its retail and wholesale models, representing a 90% increase over the previous quarter's revenue (Q4 ended May 31, 2015 - $499,890). Gross margin for the first quarter ended August 31, 2015 was 71%. Adjusted gross margin for the first quarter was 58%, after excluding the Company's non-cash change in biological assets and non-cash markup on dried marijuana inventory.
"Our first quarter results have exceeded our internal expectations, providing evidence that Aphria's primary and secondary strategies are working to increase revenue. This was a solid quarter for revenue and patient acquisition growth and our low cost producer status drove healthy gross margins on both the retail and wholesale activities," stated CEO Vic Neufeld.
Additional Highlights
Aphria has also completed the construction of the Company's previously announced 21,000 square foot (approx.) greenhouse expansion and is in the final stages of its R&D and extraction facility build out. The Company has requested a licensing inspection with Health Canada for October.
"We are extremely excited to bring our initial phase expansion to fruition. It will allow Aphria to service a larger segment of this growing market with a wider array of product offerings," says Neufeld.
Aphria expects to release detailed financial results for the quarter ended August 31, 2015 near the end of October. Adjusted gross margin is a non-GAAP financial measure, which is explained in the Company's Management's Discussion & Analysis under "Non-GAAP Financial Measures".
About Aphria
Aphria Inc., 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". For more information, visit www.Aphria.com.
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", "believe", "intend" or the negative of these terms and similar expressions. Forward-looking statements in this news release include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to internal expectations, estimated margins, expectations for future growing capacity and expectations with respect to future production costs. 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.
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