Ayr Wellness Reports Third Quarter 2022 Results

- Revenue up 24% Y/Y to $119.6 million, up 9% sequentially -

- Adjusted EBITDA up 10% sequentially to $21.7 million -

- Operating Loss improved 17% sequentially -

MIAMI, Nov. 10, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Ayr Wellness Inc. (CSE: AYR.A, OTCQX: AYRWF) (“Ayr” or the “Company”), a leading vertically integrated U.S. multi-state cannabis operator (“MSO”), is reporting financial results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2022. Unless otherwise noted, all results are presented in U.S. dollars.

Jonathan Sandelman, Founder and CEO of Ayr, said, “Ayr executed on its growth and profitability objectives during the third quarter, with our financial results largely in line with expectations. We grew retail market share in 6 of the 7 states where we operate, and while economic headwinds and inflationary pressures continued to impact the consumer wallet throughout the quarter, we maintained strong unit volumes across nearly all of our markets, demonstrating the defensibility of cannabis as a consumer staple.

“Talent remains a focus point for Ayr as we continue to optimize our existing foundation, as reflected in our hiring of David Goubert as Ayr’s first President. David brings decades of retail, customer experience, and supply chain expertise to our team. We’re also happy to announce that the Board of Directors has named Joyce Johnson-Miller as the Company’s Lead Independent Director, further strengthening our corporate governance.

“Looking ahead, we anticipate further growth from the optimization and ramping of our existing asset base, as well as a number of new catalysts that we expect to begin contributing by early next year. The closing of our acquisition of two Dispensary 33 retail locations in Illinois, the opening of 15+ new Florida stores, the commencement of sales from our state-of-the-art cultivation facility in Ohio, and the continued phased openings of our Massachusetts cultivation expansion will be key growth and profitability drivers in 2023. With these optimizations and catalysts, we believe we are well positioned to realize further earnings potential in our business in the coming year.”

Third Quarter Financial Highlights ($ in millions, excl. margin items)

1Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted Gross Profit and Adjusted EBITDA Margin are non-GAAP measures, and accordingly are not standardized measures and may not be comparable to similar measures used by other companies. See Definition and Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Measures below. For a reconciliation of Operating Loss to Adjusted EBITDA as well as Gross Profit to Adjusted Gross Profit, see the reconciliation table appended to this release.

Third Quarter and Recent Highlights

• Retail Updates
  • Opened two Greater Boston adult-use dispensaries in the heart of Boston’s Back Bay and Watertown.
  • Opened two new dispensaries in Florida during the third quarter and an additional two stores in November, bringing Ayr’s total footprint to 52 dispensaries across the state.
• Brand/Product Updates
  • Introduced Lost in Translation (LIT), an award-winning cannabis brand known for sought after genetics and terpene profiles, in Massachusetts, Florida, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Arizona.
  • Introduced HAZE live resin concentrates and vapes across the Company’s footprint in Florida and Nevada.
  • Launched Levia water-soluble tinctures in Arizona and Nevada in August, representing the first expansion of Levia outside of Massachusetts.
  • Introduced Secret Orchard vapes in Nevada.
• Regulatory Updates
  • Received state regulatory approval to convert Ayr’s Somerville, Massachusetts medical dispensary to adult use, pending local approvals.
  • Received state regulatory approval to begin phased production at Ayr’s new cultivation expansion in Massachusetts.
  • Connecticut Cultivation Solutions, an entity co-owned by Tiana Hercules Esq., a Hartford City Councilwoman, and Ayr, was awarded a provisional Disproportionately Impacted Area (“DIA”) cultivator license in Connecticut.

Financing and Capital Structure

The Company deployed $7.9 million of capital expenditures in Q3 and ended the quarter with a cash balance of $100.8 million.

As of September 30, 2022, the Company had approximately 71.3 million fully diluted shares outstanding based on a treasury method calculation as of that date.i

Outlook

Based on the results to date coupled with an uncertain macroeconomic backdrop, management is updating their assumptions underlying its previously issued guidance. Consistent with prior quarter sequential growth trends, the Company expects Adjusted EBITDA and Operating Income to grow approximately 10% sequentially from Q3 2022 to Q4 2022 and expects further growth in 2023 as future milestones come online. This guidance assumes further price compression in the wholesale and retail market. Ayr’s expectations for future results are based on the assumptions and risks detailed in its MD&A for the period ended September 30, 2022 as filed on SEDAR and with the SEC.

i Includes pending M&A and excludes Ayr granted but unvested service-based LTIP shares totaling 6.0 million.

Conference Call

Ayr management will host a conference call, followed by a question-and-answer period.

Conference Call Date: Thursday, November 10, 2022
Time: 8:30 a.m. Eastern time
Toll-free dial-in number: (800) 319-4610
International dial-in number: (604) 638-5340
Conference ID: 10020429

Please call the conference telephone number 5-10 minutes prior to the start time. An operator will register your name and organization. If you have any difficulty connecting with the conference call, please contact the Company’s investor relations team at AYR@elevate-ir.com.

The conference call will be broadcast live and available for replay here.

A telephonic replay of the conference call will also be available for one month beginning at 11:30 a.m. ET on Thursday, November 10, 2022.

Toll-free replay number: (855) 669-9658
International replay number: (412) 317-0088
Replay ID: 9502

Financial Statements

Certain financial information reported in this news release is extracted from Ayr’s Unaudited Interim Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements and MD&A for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2022 and 2021. Ayr files its financial statements and MD&A on SEDAR and with the SEC. All financial information contained in this news release is qualified in its entirety by reference to such financial statements and MD&A.

Definition and Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Measures

The Company reports certain non-GAAP measures that are used to evaluate the performance of its businesses and the performance of their respective segments, as well as to manage their capital structures. As non-GAAP measures generally do not have a standardized meaning, they may not be comparable to similar measures presented by other issuers. Securities regulators require such measures to be clearly defined and reconciled with their most comparable GAAP measures.

Rather, these are provided as additional information to complement those GAAP measures by providing further understanding of the results of the operations of the Company from management’s perspective. Accordingly, these measures should not be considered in isolation, nor as a substitute for analysis of the Company’s financial information reported under GAAP. Non-GAAP measures used to analyze the performance of the Company’s businesses include “Adjusted EBITDA” and “Adjusted Gross Profit.”

The Company believes that these non-GAAP financial measures provide meaningful supplemental information regarding the Company’s performances and may be useful to investors because they allow for greater transparency with respect to key metrics used by management in its financial and operational decision-making. These financial measures are intended to provide investors with supplemental measures of the Company’s operating performances and thus highlight trends in the Company’s core businesses that may not otherwise be apparent when solely relying on the GAAP measures.

Adjusted EBITDA

“Adjusted EBITDA” represents (loss) income from operations, as reported under GAAP, before interest and tax, adjusted to exclude other adjustments associated with non-core costs, other non-cash items, including depreciation and amortization, and further adjusted to remove non-cash stock-based compensation, the accounting for the incremental costs to acquire cannabis inventory in a business combination, acquisition related costs, start-up costs and the gain (loss) on the sale of assets.

Adjusted Gross Profit

“Adjusted Gross Profit” represents gross profit, as reported, adjusted to exclude other adjustments associated with non-core costs, the accounting for the incremental costs to acquire cannabis inventory in a business combination, interest, depreciation and amortization and start-up costs.

A reconciliation of how Ayr calculates Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted Gross Profit is provided in the tables appended below. Additional reconciliations of Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted Gross Profit and other disclosures concerning non-GAAP measures are provided in our MD&A for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2022 and 2021.

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain information contained in this news release may be forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Forward-looking statements are often, but not always, identified by the use of words such as “target”, “expect”, “anticipate”, “believe”, “foresee”, “could”, “would”, “estimate”, “goal”, “outlook”, “intend”, “plan”, “seek”, “will”, “may”, “tracking”, “pacing” and “should” and similar expressions or words suggesting future outcomes. This news release includes forward-looking information and statements pertaining to, among other things, Ayr’s future growth plans. Numerous risks and uncertainties could cause the actual events and results to differ materially from the estimates, beliefs and assumptions expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to: anticipated strategic, operational and competitive benefits may not be realized; events or series of events, including in connection with COVID-19, may cause business interruptions; required regulatory approvals may not be obtained in a timely manner or at all; inflationary pressures may increase input costs; supply chain issues may hamper production and distribution; and Ayr may not be able to raise additional debt or equity capital if required. Among other things, Ayr has assumed that its businesses will operate as anticipated and that all required regulatory approvals will be obtained on satisfactory terms and within expected time frames.

Forward-looking estimates and assumptions involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially. While Ayr believes there is a reasonable basis for these assumptions, such estimates may not be met. These estimates represent forward-looking information. Actual results may vary and differ materially from the estimates.

Assumptions and Risks

Forward-looking information in this release is subject to the assumptions and risks as described in our MD&A for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2022.

Additional Information

For more information about the Company’s Q3 2022 operations and outlook, please view Ayr’s corporate presentation posted in the Investors section of the Company’s website at www.ayrwellness.com.

About Ayr Wellness Inc.

Ayr is an expanding vertically integrated, U.S. multi-state cannabis operator. Based on the belief that everything starts with the quality of the plant, the Company’s mission is to cultivate the finest quality cannabis at scale and deliver remarkable experiences to its customers every day.

Ayr’s leadership team brings proven expertise in growing successful businesses through disciplined operational and financial management, and is committed to driving positive impact for customers, employees and the communities they serve. For more information, please visit www.ayrwellness.com.

Company/Media Contact:

Robert Vanisko
VP, Corporate Communications
T: (786) 885-0397
Email: robert.vanisko@ayrwellness.com

Investor Relations Contact:

Sean Mansouri, CFA
Elevate IR
T: (720) 330-2829
Email: IR@ayrwellness.com