TORONTO, March 18, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — The Flowr Corporation (“
Flowr
” or the “
Company
”) (TSXV: FLWR, OTC: FLWPF) is pleased to provide a business update and announces the departure of Director and Chief Executive Officer (“
CEO
”) Darryl Brooker and appointment of Tom Flow as Interim CEO.
Business Update
In the last six months, Flowr has increased its product offerings significantly with the launch and success of Strawnana, Sour Sis, BC Dog Walkers, and the recently introduced strains of BC Clementine Crush, BC Lemon Ice, BC Spiced Grape and BC Mango Melon OG. Q2 will see the introduction of seven new SKU’s across the provinces of Ontario, Quebec, British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan. The genetic and innovation pipeline continues to expand and new product launches are planned for Q3 and Q4.
From January 2022 to February 2022, our BC Strawnana Dog Walkers (pre-rolls) represented a top 15 pre-roll SKU in Ontario (above $10/gram) and continues to show strong traction in the provinces of British Colombia and Alberta. We have also seen significant growth in retail penetration across our core markets. In Ontario, over 65% of stores currently carry at least one Flowr product, representing significant growth from under 50% in August 2021. We’ve seen a similar story across our other major markets, where our store distribution has grown from ~30% to over ~60% and ~27% to over 55% in British Colombia and Alberta, respectfully.
Over the past year, the Company has significantly reduced its overhead costs and paid down much of its senior indebtedness. Since January 1, 2021, the Company has reduced the amount of principal indebtedness under its overall debt from $43.5 million to $27.9 million and has repaid its senior secured indebtedness from $18.5 million to $5.7 million to date. The sale of the KRS R&D facility as previously announced will further reduce the Company’s indebtedness by $12 million. The Company has also reduced SG&A expenses each quarter since the end of 2020 and is on track to achieve annualized SG&A savings of $3.3 million as previously announced. Our revenue continues to show quarter-on-quarter growth and will achieve record annual revenue for 2021 and further growth into 2022. We expect to release our Q4 and full year 2021 financial results prior to the end of April 2022.
The Company has freed up additional funds and streamlined its focus through the sale of non-core assets, including its Australian business, TCann Pty. Ltd. for $500,000, sale of the K2 lands for $6.3 million and the recently announced agreement to sell the KRS R&D facility for net proceeds of $4 million.
Leadership Transition
Mr. Brooker has resigned as Director and CEO effective immediately in order to pursue other opportunities. The Company would like to thank Darryl for his efforts over the past year and wish him success in his future endeavours.
“Leaving Flowr was a very tough and personal decision for me as I pursue other opportunities. I could not be more impressed with the performance of the management team over the last 10 months in terms of productivity, innovation, new strains and a laser focus on driving the business to profitability in 2022. This strong management team remains in place and I am confident that Flowr will continue to improve its share and leadership in the premium Canadian cannabis dried flower market”.
In the short-term, Tom Flow has been appointed Interim CEO to help support the leadership transition of the Company. As the founder and former CEO of the Company, Tom has an intimate knowledge of the business and is well-positioned to help guide Flowr through its leadership transition.
The Board of Directors will be providing additional support to management during the leadership transition to ensure effective leadership and decision-making as the Company continues its focus on streamlining the business and works towards its goal of becoming cash-flow positive during 2022.
About The Flowr Corporation
The Flowr Corporation is a Canadian cannabis company with operations in Canada and the European Union. Its Canadian operating campus, located in Kelowna, BC, includes a purpose-built, GMP-designed indoor cultivation facility; an outdoor and greenhouse cultivation site; and a state-of-the-art R&D facility. From this campus, Flowr produces recreational and medicinal products. Internationally, Flowr services the global medical cannabis market through its subsidiary, Holigen Holdings Limited, which has a license for cannabis cultivation in Portugal and operates a GMP licensed facility in Portugal. In 2020, Flowr’s BC Pink Kush was recognized as the top indica strain in Canada by KIND magazine.
Flowr aims to support improving outcomes through responsible cannabis use and, as an established expert in cannabis cultivation, strives to be the brand of choice for consumers and patients seeking the highest-quality craftsmanship and product consistency across a portfolio of differentiated cannabis products.
For more information, please visit flowrcorp.com or follow Flowr on Twitter: @FlowrCanada and LinkedIn: The Flowr Corporation.
On behalf of The Flowr Corporation:
Tom Flow
Interim Chief Executive Officer
CONTACT INFORMATION:
INVESTORS & MEDIA:
John Chou
Chief Financial Officer
[email protected]
Forward-Looking Information:
Certain statements made in this press release may constitute “forward-looking information”, “future oriented financial information” or “financial outlooks” (collectively, “
forward-looking information
”) within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Forward-looking information may relate to anticipated events or results including, but not limited to: the satisfaction of all of the conditions under the Supply Agreement; the anticipated size of the European medical cannabis market; the Company’s expectation that it will build on its achievements as it continues to invest in sales and marketing; Flowr servicing the global medical cannabis market and operating GMP facilities in Portugal; Flowr’s business, production and products; Flowr’s plans to provide premium quality cannabis to adult use recreational and medical markets; EU-GMP certification opening the medicinal cannabis opportunity for the Company in global markets; the Company being well positioned to distribute EU-GMP compliant product into underserviced markets; Flowr’s ability to realize revenue from the Company’s European operations within the anticipated timeframe or at all; Flowr’s ability to establish further sales and distribution channels in Europe to deliver medicinal cannabis to underserviced markets; future legislative and regulatory developments in Canada, in Europe and elsewhere; the cannabis industry in Canada and Europe, generally; the ability of Flowr to implement its business strategies; and the ability of can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as “may”, “will”, “expect”, “believe”, “estimate”, “plan”, “could”, “should”, “would”, “outlook”, “forecast”, “anticipate”, “foresee”, “continue” or the Flowr to produce or sell premium quality cannabis. Particularly, information regarding our expectations of future results, targets, performance achievements, prospects or opportunities is forward-looking information. Often, but not always, forward-looking statements negative of these terms or variations of them or similar terminology. Forward-looking information is current as of the date it is made and is based on reasonable estimates and assumptions made by us at the relevant time in light of our experience and perception of historical trends, current conditions and expected future developments, as well as other factors that we believe are appropriate and reasonable in the circumstances. To the extent any forward-looking information in this press release constitutes “future oriented financial information” or “financial outlooks”, within the meaning of applicable securities laws, the purpose of such information being provided is to demonstrate the potential of the Company and readers are cautioned that this information may not be appropriate for any other purpose. However, we do not undertake to update any such forward-looking information whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required under applicable securities laws in Canada.
There can be no assurance that such estimates and assumptions will prove to be correct. Many factors could cause our actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements or future events or developments to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking information as discussed in the “Risk Factors” section of the Company’s 2020 Annual Information Form dated April 28, 2021 (the “
AIF
”). A copy of the AIF and the Company’s other publicly filed documents can be accessed under the Company’s profile on the System for Electronic Document Analysis and Retrieval (“
SEDAR
”) at www.sedar.com. The Company cautions that the list of risk factors and uncertainties described in the AIF is not exhaustive and other factors could also adversely affect its results. Readers are urged to consider the risks, uncertainties and assumptions carefully in evaluating the forward-looking information and are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such information.
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
