Columbia Care Reports Record Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2021 Results; Issues 2022 Guidance Under U.S. GAAP
- Company Now Reporting in U.S. GAAP; Also Presenting Results This Quarter with Reference to 2021 IFRS Guidance
- Full Year 2021 U.S. GAAP Results Include Record Revenue of $460 Million and Record Adjusted EBITDA of $58 Million (Non-GAAP Measure)
- Record Quarterly Revenue of $139 Million, an Increase of 70% YoY, 5% Sequentially
- Full Year 2021 Combined Revenue of $474 Million and Combined Adjusted EBITDA of $85 Million; Both Company Records and In-Line with Previously Communicated IFRS Guidance
- Company Issues 2022 Guidance of $625M – $675M Revenue, $120M – $135M Adjusted EBITDA, in U.S. GAAP
NEW YORK, March 24, 2022–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Columbia Care Inc. (NEO: CCHW) (CSE: CCHW) (OTCQX: CCHWF) (FSE: 3LP) (“Columbia Care” or the “Company”) today reported financial and operating results for the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2021. All financial information presented in this release is in U.S. GAAP and in thousands of U.S. dollars, unless otherwise noted, and comparisons to prior quarter and prior year are made on an as-converted basis under U.S. GAAP, unless otherwise noted.
We are pleased to report record results for the full year and fourth quarter of 2021, in what was a truly transformational year for Columbia Care. In 2021, organic growth across our diversified portfolio and the integration of several major acquisitions drove full year revenue increase of 156% over the prior year. As we build scale and operationalize new markets, Adjusted EBITDA (non-GAAP measure) has improved 220% over fourth quarter 2020.
Nicholas Vita, CEO of Columbia Care
We have also evolved as a company through our launch of the Cannabist retail experience and our own suite of product brands. Innovative technologies like Forage allow us to engage with and understand our patients and consumers better than ever before.
Vita continued, “As we look ahead to the remainder of 2022, there are remarkable catalysts on the horizon, including adult use sales in New Jersey and growth in the medical programs in New York and Virginia. We will continue to roll out our award-winning Cannabist retail experience as we open new locations and will bring our house of brands to our strategic national footprint throughout 2022, providing consistent quality that patients and consumers demand. We’ve made tremendous operational improvements that are driving efficiencies in new and maturing markets. I am confident that our team will continue to demonstrate our successful strategies as we execute in 2022 and beyond.”
Management Commentary on Transaction with Cresco Labs
“Since our founding, Columbia Care’s mission has been to provide quality, expertise and trust in cannabis and to deliver the best outcome for our stakeholders,” said CEO Nicholas Vita. “In an evolving industry, the opportunities to better achieve our mission through consolidation led us to this historic moment. With Columbia Care’s strategic national footprint in the most attractive markets and Cresco’s success in execution and incredibly popular brands, we will together create the most important and investable company in cannabis. There is no better team in the industry to maximize the potential of this market defining combination.”
Full Year 2021 U.S. GAAP Financial Highlights (in $ thousands, excl. margin items):
Fourth Quarter 2021 U.S. GAAP Financial Highlights (in $ thousands, excl. margin items):
[1] Excludes $4.7 million in Q4 2021, $1.4 million in Q3 2021 and $1.3 million in Q4 2020 related to the mark-up of inventory acquired in acquisitions.
[2] Represents Reported Results
[3] Represents Combined Results, which include dispensary operations in Ohio.
Full Year 2021 IFRS Guidance and Results (unaudited)
The following table provides the Company’s results for the year ended December 31, 2021 based on IFRS compared to the Company’s most recent 2021 guidance as issued on November 12, 2021:
[1] Excludes changes in fair value of biological assets and inventory sold for all periods presented,
as well as $7.7 million in 2021 related to the mark-up of inventory acquired in acquisitions.
With respect to the table above, Combined Revenue, Combined Adjusted Gross Margin and Combined Adjusted EBITDA include results from the CannAscend transaction prior to its close on July 1, 2021.
See “Non-GAAP & Non-IFRS Financial Measures” at the end of this press release for more information regarding the Company’s use of non-GAAP and non-IFRS financial measures.
Top 5 Markets by Revenue in Q4[4]: California, Colorado, Massachusetts, Ohio, Pennsylvania
Top 5 Markets by Adjusted EBITDA in Q4[4]: Colorado, Maryland, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Virginia
[4] Markets are listed alphabetically
Operational Highlights for Fourth Quarter 2021
Sustained momentum on branding initiatives at retail and product levels:
- Transformed entire Florida footprint of 14 stores to Cannabist retail experience on December 8
- Launched Classix brand in five new markets on October 13 in the industry’s widest multi-state flower brand launch in a single day
- Announced partnership with Mike Tyson’s Tyson 2.0 cannabis line, as exclusive cultivation, manufacturing and distribution partner within Columbia Care markets
Building scale with continued retail expansion:
- Entered the Missouri medical market in October
- Closed acquisition of Medicine Man in Colorado in November, strengthening leadership position in the world’s second largest cannabis market
- Opened new dispensary in a Richmond, Virginia suburb in November, the third location in the state
Proven cultivation expertise and execution:
- First to offer whole flower for sale in New York medical market in October
- Achieved first harvest out of Riverhead, Long Island greenhouse in December, with high quality testing / flower for the New York medical program
- Continued to drive operational improvements and adherence to national cultivation SOPs, leading to increases in potency and yield throughout the cultivation portfolio
- Wholesale revenue represented 19% of total revenue in Q4
Operational Highlights for Full Year 2021
Sustained momentum on branding initiatives at retail and product levels:
- Unveiled Cannabist retail experience, transforming the storefront and shopping experience for patients and consumers; to date, there are 26 Cannabists across the U.S., representing nearly one-third of the 83 active retail locations
- Launched Columbia Care house of brands across national footprint, including Seed & Strain, Triple Seven, Amber, Press and edibles. In-house and owned brands now account for 67% of all flower sold at Columbia Care owned dispensaries
- Wholesale revenue increased from 13% in Q1 to 19% in Q4, due to additional cultivation capacity and ongoing brand rollout
Building scale across strategic national portfolio:
- Added 12 retail locations in 2021 and opened in new markets of Missouri, Utah and West Virginia
- Closed acquisitions throughout the year: 34-acre cultivation and manufacturing site in Long Island, NY in Q2; multi-state operator Green Leaf Medical in Q2; CannAscend transaction for Ohio assets in Q3; vertically-integrated Colorado operator Medicine Man in Q4
- Added more than 1 million square feet of cultivation and production capacity to our footprint
Capital Markets Highlights
- CCHW included in MSCI Canada Small Cap Index, as of market close on November 30
- In December 2021, the Company secured a mortgage on the Riverhead, Long Island property for $20M at an annual interest rate equal to the Wall Street prime rate (“Index”) plus 2.25%
- Subsequent to quarter close, on February 3, 2022, Company completed a private placement of US$185 million aggregate principal amount of 9.50% senior-secured first-lien notes due 2026
2022 Outlook
Columbia Care’s 2022 outlook assumes adult use sales begin in New Jersey in Q2 2022, but does not include any contribution from future acquisitions, nor does it assume any changes in the regulatory environment in markets where Columbia Care currently operates. This also excludes markets where a conversion from medical only to adult use is under consideration by the Governor and/or legislature. See “Caution Concerning Forward-Looking Statements” below for further discussion.
Conference Call and Webcast Details
The Company will host a conference call on Thursday, March 24, 2022 at 8:00 a.m. EST to discuss financial and operating results for the fourth quarter and full year of 2021.
To access the live conference call via telephone, please dial 1-877-407-8914 (US Callers) or 1-201-493-6795 (international callers). A live audio webcast of the call will also be available in the Investor Relations section of the Company’s website at https://ir.col-care.com/ or at https://themediaframe.com/mediaframe/webcast.html?webcastid=nUKUeVI9.
A replay of the audio webcast will be available in the Investor Relations section of the Company’s website approximately 2 hours after completion of the call and will be archived for 30 days.
U.S. GAAP Financial Reporting
Beginning with the quarter ended December 31, 2021, the Company has prepared its financial statements, including all comparative figures, in compliance with U.S. GAAP instead of IFRS. Changes to comparative figures for prior periods reflect their presentation in accordance with U.S. GAAP and is not a change in the Company’s underlying performance as previously reported under IFRS.
A reconciliation of non-GAAP financial measures to their nearest comparable GAAP measure is included in this press release and a further discussion of these items will be contained in our annual report on Form 10-K.
Non-GAAP, Non-IFRS and IFRS Financial Measures
In this press release, Columbia Care refers to certain non-GAAP financial measures, including EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted Gross Margin and to certain non-IFRS financial measures (which are also non-GAAP financial measures), including Combined Adjusted EBITDA and Combined Adjusted Gross Margin and certain IFRS measures (that are also non-GAAP financial measures) including Revenue, Adjusted Gross Profit and Adjusted Gross Margin. These measures do not have any standardized meaning in accordance with U.S. GAAP or IFRS and may not be comparable to similar measures presented by other companies. Columbia Care considers certain non-GAAP and non-IFRS measures to be meaningful indicators of the performance of its business. These measures are not recognized measures under GAAP and IFRS, do not have a standardized meaning prescribed by GAAP and IFRS and may not be comparable to (and may be calculated differently by) other companies that present similar measures. Accordingly, these measures should not be considered in isolation from nor as a substitute for our financial information reported under GAAP. These non-GAAP, non-IFRS and IFRS measures are used to provide investors with supplemental measures of our operating performance and thus highlight trends in our business that may not otherwise be apparent when relying solely on GAAP measures. These supplemental non-GAAP, non-IFRS and IFRS financial measures should not be considered superior to, as a substitute for, or as an alternative to, and should be considered in conjunction with, the GAAP financial measures presented. We also recognize that securities analysts, investors and other interested parties frequently use non-GAAP, non-IFRS and IFRS measures in the evaluation of companies within our industry.
With respect to non-GAAP financial measures, the Company defines EBITDA as net income (loss) before (i) depreciation and amortization; (ii) income taxes; and (iii) interest expense and debt amortization. Adjusted EBITDA is defined as EBITDA before (i) share-based compensation expense; (ii) goodwill impairment; (iii) fair value mark-up for acquired inventory (iv) acquisition and other non-core costs associated with our recent acquisitions, litigation expenses and COVID-19 expenses (v) fair value changes on derivative liabilities; (vi) impairment on disposal group; (vii) loss on conversion of convertible debt; (viii) earnout liability accrual; (ix) indemnification costs and (x) expenses relating to acquisition and settlement of pre-existing relationships. Adjusted Gross Margin is defined as gross margin before the fair mark-up for acquired inventory. With respect to non-IFRS financial measures, the Company defines Combined Adjusted Gross Margin and Combined Adjusted EBITDA as Adjusted Gross Margin and Adjusted EBITDA, respectively, before (i) net impact, fair value of biological assets and inventory sold; and (ii) impact of conversion for lease accounting from IFRS to U.S. GAAP.
The Company views these non-GAAP, non-IFRS and IFRS financial measures as a means to facilitate management’s financial and operational decision-making, including evaluation of the Company’s historical operating results and comparison to competitors’ operating results. These non-GAAP, non-IFRS and IFRS financial measures reflect an additional way of viewing aspects of the Company’s operations that, when viewed with GAAP results and the reconciliations to the corresponding GAAP and IFRS financial measure may provide a more complete understanding of factors and trends affecting the Company’s business. The determination of the amounts that are excluded from these non-GAAP, non-IFRS and IFRS financial measures are a matter of management judgment and depend upon, among other factors, the nature of the underlying expense or income amounts. Because non-GAAP and non-IFRS financial measures exclude the effect of items that will increase or decrease the Company’s reported results of operations, management strongly encourages investors to review the Company’s consolidated financial statements and publicly filed reports in their entirety.
Reconciliations of non-GAAP financial measures to their nearest comparable GAAP measures, non-IFRS financial measures to their nearest comparable non-IFRS measures and GAAP and non-GAAP financial measures to IFRS and non-IFRS financial measures are included in this press release and a further discussion of some of these items will be contained in our annual report on Form 10-K.
About Columbia Care
Columbia Care is one of the largest and most experienced cultivators, manufacturers and providers of cannabis products and related services, with licenses in 18 U.S. jurisdictions and the EU. Columbia Care operates 131 facilities including 99 dispensaries and 32 cultivation and manufacturing facilities, including those under development. Columbia Care is one of the original multi-state providers of medical cannabis in the U.S. and now delivers industry-leading products and services to both the medical and adult-use markets. In 2021, the company launched Cannabist, its new retail brand, creating a national dispensary network that leverages proprietary technology platforms. The company offers products spanning flower, edibles, oils and tablets, and manufactures popular brands including Seed & Strain, Triple Seven, gLeaf, Classix, Press, Amber and Platinum Label CBD. For more information on Columbia Care, please visit www.col-care.com.
