CALGARY, AB, May 25, 2022 /PRNewswire/ – Decibel Cannabis Company Inc. (the “Company” or “Decibel”) (TSXV: DB) (OTCQB: DBCCF), a premium cannabis producer, is pleased to announce its first quarter financial results for the three month period ending March 31, 2022.
Decibel remains on track to achieve its previously communicated targets, which is a testament to the focus on our strategic plan, and particularly our New, Unique and Innovative products and dedication to our customers”, said Paul Wilson, CEO of Decibel. “We see momentum growing in our core business, and at the same time are driving towards creating shareholder value by restructuring our balance sheet. This makes Decibel one of the few in the cannabis space to repay convertible debentures rather than accept shareholder dilution.”
Key Financial Highlights – First Quarter
- Record Net Revenue: $16.7 million of total net sales in Q1 2022, with strong growth of 19% over Q4 2021 and 32% over Q1 2021. Net revenue growth was driven by the launch of Decibel’s new infused pre-roll lines and continued growth in demand for flower, vape and concentrate products, despite Q1 historically being a seasonally weak period.
- Gross Margin Before Fair Value Adjustments: 35% in Q1 2022, compared to 26% in Q4 2021 and 39% in Q1 2021. The Company has a number of initiatives and capital investments in progress and expects to be successful achieving the targeted 40 – 45% gross margin by the second half of 2022.
- Positive Adj. EBITDA: Record $2.5 million of adjusted EBITDA in Q1 2022, with strong growth of 70% over Q4 2021 and 21% over Q1 2021. This marks Decibel’s seventh consecutive quarter of positive adjusted EBITDA.
- Derivative Sales: $10.3 million of net sales in Q1 2022, with strong growth of 50% over Q4 2021 and 85% over Q1 2021. 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 2021 and early Q1 2022.
- Flower Sales: $4.2 million of net sales in Q1 2022, with an 8% decline over Q4 2021 and 10% growth over Q1 2021. The Company anticipates that the infrastructure upgrades to its cultivation facilities focusing on enhanced quality, will reinvigorate growth within its flower sales. Sales growth over Q1 2021 was driven by increased volumes from the Thunderchild facility becoming operational.
- Record Market Share: 4.3% in April 2022, marking the sixth consecutive month of record market share.
- Cash Flow & Working Capital: Cash flow from operations was $3.0 million in Q1 2022, an improvement of $8 million over Q4 2021 and $6 million over Q1 2021. In Q4 2021, the Company made significant investments in working capital to meet the growing demand for Decibel brands and products and mitigate against supply chain risks. The Company anticipates reduced working capital needs in 2022 and is seeing improvements in its supply chain. The Company has identified various initiatives and capital investments to accelerate cash flow generation and manage working capital levels that are expected to support Q2 2022 onwards.
- Capital Projects: In Q1 2022, the Company made the following progress on its capital projects:
- The Plant: Completed Phase 1 of its processing hub expansion at The Plant and received its Health Canada license May 2, 2022. This area will include newly automated processing and packaging lines for dried flower, pre-roll, and infused products accompanied by reduced labour and logistics costs.
- Creston Facility: Completed its infrastructure optimization project which will have an immediate impact on all new harvests, further enhancing product quality and contributing to higher yields.
- Thunderchild Cultivation Facility: Accelerated its staged infrastructure optimization to better meet growing demand for Decibel products and enhance product quality and yields. Production volumes are expected to be partially impacted in starting in Q2 2022 and resuming full run-rate production by the start of Q4 2022.
- Repayment of Convertible Debentures: On May 11, 2022, the Company repaid its 9.5% convertible debentures with the draw-down of a fixed 4.75% $12 million term loan from its credit facilities. This extends the maturity date of Decibel’s $12 million of debt by 4 years, removes approximately 6% of potential shareholder dilution, and results in $0.6 million of annual interest expense savings.
- New Product Launches: The Company continued its launch of new, unique and innovative products in 2022, including cultivar rotations, expanded infused products into new provinces, the entry of General Admission into the core flower segment, and additional vape line extensions:
- Introduced Qwest’s new cultivars, with Frosted Cherry Cookies and Icicle launched in May, selling out in the first two weeks.
- Expanded distribution of infused pre-rolls:
- Kief-coated terpene infused pre-rolls into ON.
- Distillate infused pre-rolls into BC, SK, and ON.
- Diamond infused pre-rolls into BC, SK, and ON.
- Hash infused pre-rolls into AB and ON.
- Launched General Admission’s first flower product offering with strong demand early on, representing $950k of net sales in Q1.
- Launched Orange Tingz (live resin), Peach Ringz (distillate), and Honeydew Boba (distillate) vapes.
Summary Highlights
Link to Decibel’s Investor Presentation
Decibel’s financial statements for the three month period ending March 31, 2022 (“Financial Statements”) and related Management’s Discussion & Analysis (“MD&A”), are available under the Company’s profile at www.sedar.com. As of March 31, 2022, 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.
About Decibel
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.
Cautionary Statements
Non-GAAP Measures
Cautionary Statement Regarding Certain Non-GAAP Measures
This MD&A contains certain financial performance measures that are not recognized or defined under IFRS (termed “Non-GAAP Measures”). As a result, this data may not be comparable to data presented by other licenced producers and cannabis companies. For an explanation of these measures to related comparable financial information presented in the Consolidated Financial Statements prepared in accordance with IFRS, refer to the discussion below. The Company believes that these Non-GAAP Measures are useful indicators of operating performance and are specifically used by management to assess the financial and operational performance of the Company. These Non-GAAP Measures include, but are not limited, to the following:
Non-GAAP Financial Measures
Adjusted EBITDA: Adjusted EBITDA is a measure of the Company’s financial performance. It is intended to provide a proxy for the Company’s operating cash flow and is widely used by industry analysts to compare Decibel to its competitors and derive expectations of future financial performance of the Company. Adjusted EBITDA increases comparability between comparative companies by eliminating variability resulting from differences in capital structures, management decisions related to resource allocation, and the impact of fair value adjustments on biological assets, inventory, and financial instruments, which may be volatile on a period to period basis. Adjusted EBTIDA is not a recognized, defined, or standardized measure under IFRS. 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. Refer to “Adjusted Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization” for a detailed calculation of this measure. The numbers that are input into this calculation can be found in the statement of financial position in the Company’s Consolidated Financial Statements.
Retail Sales: Retail Sales is a measure intended to provide a more accurate depiction of the revenue earned by the Company’s retail operations. Inventory transferred directly from the Company’s wholesale operations to the Company’s retail operations is removed from Retail Revenue as presented in the Company’s Consolidated Financial Statements.
Gross Sales of Flower: Gross Sales of Flower is a measure intended to provide a more accurate depiction of gross revenue earned by the Company’s wholesale flower operations. Inventory transferred directly from the Company’s wholesale flower operations to the Company’s retail operations is added to Gross Wholesale Revenue of Flower as found in the Company’s Consolidated Financial Statements to arrive at Gross Sales of Flower.
Net Sales of Flower: Net Sales of Flower is a measure intended to provide a more accurate depiction of net revenue earned by the Company’s wholesale flower operations. Excise taxes associated with flower sales are subtracted from Gross Sales of Flower to arrive at Net Sales of Flower.
Gross Sales of Extracts: Gross Sales of Extracts is a measure intended to provide a more accurate depiction of gross revenue earned by the Company’s wholesale extracts operations. Inventory transferred directly from the Company’s wholesale extracts operations to the Company’s retail operations is added to Gross Wholesale Revenue of Extracts as found in the Company’s Consolidated Financial Statements to arrive at Gross Sales of Extracts.
Net Sales of Extracts: Net Sales of Extracts is a measure intended to provide a more accurate depiction of net revenue earned by the Company’s wholesale extracts operations. Excise taxes associated with extracts sales are subtracted from Gross Sales of Extracts to arrive at Net Sales of Extracts.
Working Capital: Working Capital is an indicative measure of the Company’s ability to service its short-term financial obligations with short-term assets. Management believes this measure provides useful information about the Company’s current short-term liquidity. Refer to “Liquidity and Capital Resources” for a detailed calculation of this measure. The numbers that are input into this calculation can be found in the statement of financial position in the Company’s Consolidated Financial Statements.
Accordingly, these Non-GAAP Measures are 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.
