Greetings, and welcome to the Aurora Cannabis Inc. 2023 Annual General Meeting. I will now turn it over to Ron Funk, Aurora's chairman. Please go ahead.
Thank you, operator. Ladies and gentlemen, my name is Ron Funk, and I am the Chairman of Aurora Cannabis Inc. I welcome you all to our annual general meeting for the company's 9-month fiscal period, ended March 31st, 2023. I will act as Chairman of this meeting. Joining me today is Miguel Martin, Chief Executive Officer, and Nathalie Clark, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary at Aurora. I now call the meeting to order and will commence with the formal proceedings to appoint a recording secretary and a scrutineer for the meeting. I appoint Nathalie Clark to act as recording secretary for the meeting and Vanessa Lee of Computershare Trust Company of Canada as scrutineer for this meeting. This meeting is being held in a virtual-only format, which is being conducted via live audio webcast.
In terms of formal procedures at today's meeting, as chairman of this meeting, I will propose motions, and in accordance with the articles of the company, no motion proposed by me need be seconded. We will conduct the votes on the matters before us by a poll on the virtual platform. On a poll, every shareholder entitled to vote on the matter, has one vote for each share, entitled to be voted on the matter and held by that shareholder. The poll will be open for all resolutions at the same time. This will allow you to choose to vote on each resolution immediately or wait until the conclusion of discussion on each resolution prior to casting your vote. Due to the format, there will not be an opportunity to address the meeting in real time during the formal proceedings.
However, registered shareholders or duly appointed proxy holders will be able to enter questions to be addressed during the Q&A session, following conclusion of the formal portion of the meeting. As is the case with an in-person meeting, due to time constraints, we may not have time to address all questions through the platform and ask that you follow up with our investor relations team if your question is not answered today. There is an online presentation that you will be able to view during the course of the meeting. Viewers are asked to please refer to the disclaimer with regards to forward-looking statements as set out in the presentation. In addition, certain matters discussed during this meeting that are not statements of historical fact would constitute forward-looking statements, which are also subject to risks and uncertainties related to our future financial or business performance.
Such forward-looking statements may include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to the company's strategy and path to achieving positive free cash flow, ongoing cost savings, and the timeline to see the impact of those reductions. The company's medical cannabis leadership and opportunities to increase market share, growth opportunities across all markets, the company's ability to supply an increasing demand in international markets, product innovation, competitive advantages in science and cultivation expertise, improvements in yields and per gram costs, the controlling interest in Bevo, the acceleration of the Bevo business, and the associated benefits to the company, and the creation of long-term value for our shareholders. Viewers and listeners are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based on certain assumptions that management considers to be reasonable.
Material factors or assumptions involved in developing forward-looking statements include, without limitation, publicly available information from governmental sources, as well as from market research and industry analysis, and on assumptions based on data and knowledge of this industry, which the company believes to be reasonable. Actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements, and the risk factors that may affect actual results are detailed in our Annual Information Form and other periodic filings and registration statements. These documents may be accessed via SEDAR and EDGAR. The notice calling this meeting and all proxy-related materials were delivered to shareholders by notice-and-access, with the materials posted on the company's website. All registered and beneficial shareholders received a notice-and-access notification. I have a declaration as to the notice-and-access meeting mailing for this meeting, which is available for inspection by any shareholder.
In view of this, I will dispense with calling for a reading of the notice, and I will ask the recording secretary to file a declaration of the notice-and-access meeting mailing with the minutes of this meeting. Does the recording secretary have the scrutineer's report on attendance?
Yes, I do. The scrutineer's preliminary written report on attendance states as follows: 0 shareholders in person representing 0 shares. 205 shareholders by proxy, representing 92,315,897 shares. 205 total shareholders holding 92,315,897 shares. Total shares represented, 354,652,205 shares. The percentage of outstanding shares represented at the meeting is 26.23%. This attendance meets the quorum requirement for the meeting.
Thank you, Nathalie. The notice of the meeting, having been given as required and a quorum being present, I declare this meeting to be duly called and constituted for the transaction of business. The polls are now open on all resolutions. The minutes of the last annual general meeting of the company, held on November 14, 2022, are filed in the company's record book. I now put forward a motion that the reading of the minutes of the last annual general meeting of the company be dispensed with, and that the minutes be taken as read and approved. May I please have a motion that the minutes be taken as read, approved, and adopted as tabled?
Moved.
Thanks, Miguel. Motion carried. I will now table the financial statements for the company's 9-month fiscal period ended March 31st, 2023, the report of the auditor, KPMG LLP, and the related management's discussion and analysis thereon. These financial statements have been filed by the company on SEDAR. I would like to propose that we dispense with a reading of the financial statements. Please note that there will be a Q&A session after the formal portion of this meeting to discuss the company's financial situation and prospects. May I please have a motion that we dispense with reading the financial statements?
Moved.
Thanks again, Miguel. Motion carried. Accordingly, I confirm that the financial statements of the company for the 9-month fiscal period ended March 31st, 2023, the report of the auditor and related management's discussion and analysis thereon, have been submitted and shall be included by the recording secretary as part of the formal records of this meeting. The next item of business is to fix the number of directors for the ensuing year. Management proposes to fix the number of directors to be elected to the board at 7. I move that the number of directors for the ensuing year be fixed at 7. I now call for a vote on the motion before the meeting. If you are a shareholder or a voting delegate who is using the virtual platform to vote on this matter, you may do so now.
If you have previously voted on this matter and do not wish to change your vote, no further action is required. Would all voting delegates please enter your votes in the system? The next item of business is the election of directors for the ensuing year. Management proposes to nominate seven persons for election to the board. These persons are all described in the proxy materials, and all of the nominees have agreed to stand for election. The company's articles include advance notice provisions, which provide for advance notice to the company in circumstances where nomination of persons for election to the board are made by shareholders of the company. The company has not received notice of any nominations, and as such, any nominations other than nominees disclosed in the proxy materials for this meeting may be disregarded.
Therefore, I nominate the following seven persons as directors for the ensuing year: Miguel Martin, Michael Singer, Norma Beauchamp, Theresa Firestone, Adam Szweras, Chitwant Kohli, and myself, Ron Funk. The seven persons nominated are management's nominees for election, as was stated in the information circular for this meeting. I move that the nominations be closed. I now call for a vote on the motion before the meeting. If you are a shareholder or a voting delegate who is using the virtual platform to vote on this matter, you may do so now. If you have previously voted on this matter and do not wish to change your vote, no further action is required. Would all voting delegates please enter your votes in the system?
The next item of business is to consider the non-binding advisory vote on executive compensation, also known as say-on-pay, as described in the information circular. To pass, the resolution must be greater than a 50% majority of votes cast by shareholders voting in person or by proxy here at the meeting. I now call for a vote on the motion before the meeting. If you are a shareholder or a voting delegate who is using the virtual platform to vote on this matter, you may do so now. If you have previously voted on this matter and do not wish to change your vote, no further action is required. Would all voting delegates please enter your votes in the system? The next item of business is the appointment of the auditor for the ensuing year.
The company proposes that KPMG LLP be reappointed as auditor for the company for the ensuing year. I now ask for a vote on the motion that KPMG LLP, Chartered Professional Accountants, with offices at 777 West Georgia Street, Vancouver, British Columbia, be reappointed as auditor of the company. I now call for a vote on the motion before the meeting. If you are a shareholder or a voting delegate who is using the virtual platform to vote on this matter, you may do so now. If you have previously voted on this matter and do not wish to change your vote, no further action is required. Would all voting delegates please enter your votes in the system? I'll pause briefly and ask that all shareholders and voting delegates finish voting on all items presented, as we will be closing voting shortly. Thank you.
I confirm that voting has been closed. I will pause briefly again to allow our scrutineer to advise if sufficient votes have been cast in favor of the items that were presented today. I have received confirmation from the scrutineer that the company has received sufficient votes in favor of each item of business to carry each motion. Accordingly, I hereby confirm that all motions were carried. Full voting results will be available on SEDAR after this meeting. We have now concluded the formal portion, formal business portion for the meeting. Management will moderate questions following the termination of the meeting. As all the business for the meeting has been concluded, I declare this meeting being terminated. Thank you very much for attending.
We will now move to the informal part of the meeting, and I'd like to turn it over to our CEO, Miguel Martin, to say a few words.
Thank you, Ron. Aurora today is a differentiated and diversified company with a leading global cannabis platform and a leading North American plant propagation operator. In cannabis, we are medical first and a leader in that business across the world. In plant propagation, we are one of the top companies operating critical infrastructure in the controlled environment agriculture industry. We are very proud of the record quarter we just reported on. We generated the largest adjusted EBITDA we've ever achieved, and revenue and adjusted gross profit at the highest level Aurora has reported in three years. Be assured, we're not resting here. We are pushing harder than ever to bring our diversified operations to free cash flow generation. Next month marks my third anniversary as CEO of Aurora. During those three years, we've undertaken a very focused and purposeful transformation. One, we reset our operational footprint and cost structure.
We are focused on leveraging our industry-leading science and cultivation expertise to produce some of the world's most innovative products and high-potency cultivars. These next-generation cultivars are routinely producing 28% THC and higher potency, with 43% greater yields and a 26% cost per gram reduction compared to our legacy cultivars, and we expect to continue to improve in the future. 2, we reduced our SG&A expenses while simultaneously augmenting our CPG and pharma experience in both our leadership and our operating staff. Over the last 3 years, quarterly SG&A has been taken down by 50%, but we retained critical talent and invested in experienced and agile new recruits. We are very proud of how our high-performing team can collaborate and execute. 3, we rededicated ourselves to the market we've always been leaders in, medical cannabis, both in Canada and globally.
We invested in technology, talent, product selection, and patient experience. With over 2 times the medical market share of our nearest competitor in Canada and leadership positions in Germany, Poland, the U.K., and Australia, we succeed where others don't because of the high barriers to entry and our world-class cultivation and manufacturing. 4, we recognize the need to diversify our revenue and cash flow base beyond cannabis. While the case for global cannabis is a very bullish one, the timing of regulatory change can sometimes be difficult to pinpoint. We found our first adjacency in the industry-like industry of plant propagation. Over the long term, plant propagation in cannabis, as in every other agriculture industry, will become an important part of the value chain.
In the meantime, our controlling interest in Bevo is expected to provide free cash flow growth and exposure to a critical infrastructure like asset class that most public market investors cannot get exposure to. The tailwinds for the controlled environment agriculture industry include home shoring the food supply, supply chain uncertainty, and reducing our food's carbon footprint, are compelling long-term value creation attributes we expect to accrue to Aurora shareholders. Over the next two to three years, we expect the acceleration of Bevo's business plan can double their current revenue and EBITDA. Finally, our balance sheet, where over 3 years we reduced Aurora's debt balance from CAD 531 million to approximately CAD 63 million, demonstrating that prudent fiscal management and focus on cash and cash flow are top priorities for the company. Of course, I'm very proud of our team and our success to date.
Like I said earlier, we're just getting started. On the top line, we see a path to growing our business across all markets that we operate in. Investment in innovation is vital to our success, and we plan to introduce approximately 75 new products to market in the coming quarters. We have the opportunity to earn profits in Canadian adult use through our upcoming product launches, and with our continued drive to invest in efficient cultivation and manufacturing, we see opportunities for our Canadian adult use business to move to profitability. Our Canadian medical business continues to benefit from our broad and attractive product assortment and the excellent patient experience we deliver. With disruption in the Canadian marketplace, we believe Aurora's number 1 position in the medical market leaves us well-positioned to gather business from other medical LPs in Canada.
Our proven next-generation cultivars that we're launching across Europe and Australia are proving themselves to be popular with patients. Right now, with the products we've taken to market in the past three months, we have more demand than we've been able to supply in Europe and Australia. In an industry challenged by excess supply, we are excited by this enviable position, and with recent changes to our supply chain, we think we can handle this increasing demand. Below the revenue line, we plan to meet our ongoing cost optimization targets of realizing $40 million of annualized savings in fiscal year 2024, which is progressing nicely, and we expect to see the impact of these reductions fully by Q3 through the back half of this fiscal year.
I'm sure that our track record on top-line execution and expense management should give everyone confidence that we will generate positive free cash flow in calendar 2024. It's truly an exciting time for Aurora, our shareholders, and our employees. We appreciate your time and your continued support in Aurora. Now we'd be happy to move to our Q&A session. In addition to responding to questions that have been submitted through the platform, we would also like to address the most common questions we are receiving through our investor relations mailbox.
Thank you, Miguel. I'm gonna start with the most common questions we receive from our shareholders, and may also select questions received through the platform during our AGM today. Miguel, the first question is: what gives you confidence that you will meet your stated free cash flow targets in calendar 2024?
Thanks, Ananth. You know, as everyone may recall from our most recent quarterly results last week, we just reported our third consecutive quarter with positive adjusted EBITDA, and Q1, fiscal year 2024, had a record at CAD 2.2 million. This time last year, we set the objective of achieving positive adjusted EBITDA for the December quarter, our fiscal 2023 Q2, and we hit it. We're cautious when we put these milestones into the market, and we're deeply focused on under-promising and overachieving on them. We are confident today when we put this new financial milestone out to investors that we'll achieve it. Overall, our global cannabis business is performing well and continues to deliver consistent adjusted gross margins.
Bevo just had a record quarter, it will continue to have some seasonality in the business, but we do see a path for Bevo to double its EBITDA over the next two to three years. We think there's a lot for shareholders to be excited about. Additionally, in June, we announced our plans to target CAD 40 million of incremental savings on an annualized basis to support our latest financial goal of being free cash flow positive in fiscal, sorry, in calendar year 2024. First there, we're looking at our operating cash flow, and as we shift the supply of all of our international markets to our efficient Canadian facilities, we expect to realize CAD 5 million in quarterly operating cash savings as we turn through our inventory in the coming quarters.
Secondly, we'll be targeting further targeted cost efficiencies in operations and SG&A of about CAD 5 million quarterly, that, without adversely affecting our revenue-generating business units. Lastly, we'll be able to realize quarterly interest savings of about CAD 1 million a quarter as we pay off the remaining balance of our convertible note and reduce maintenance CapEx from an average of CAD 3.6 million a quarter to CAD 2 million. This target does not rely on revenue growth, any revenue growth we have will have an incremental impact on our plans. We have a history of delivering on our transformation plans to date, and we're excited to deliver positive and sustainable structural change to our business that will enable Aurora to be successful in the long term and create significant shareholder value.
Thanks, Miguel. Our next question is one that typically comes through our IR website, and it is: Why should Aurora shareholders be excited about the future of the company?
Well, as I mentioned in my prepared comments, Aurora today is a differentiated and diversified company with a leading global cannabis platform and a leading North American plant propagator, so there's a lot to be excited about. Over the last three years, we've undertaken and delivered on a very focused and purposeful transformation without limiting our growth opportunities. Our continued focus on science and innovation has led to the successful launches of our next-generation cultivars in Canada and now most recently in Europe and Australia. These new cultivars allow us to target growth in the global cannabis business as we can continue to meet the ever-changing patient and consumer needs, while also delivering reduced operating costs through improved yields, higher potency, and reduced cultivation costs.
With the repurposing of Aurora Sky and Sun facilities, we can expect to see a significant increase in contributions from Bevo as they continue to grow their already strong presence in the plant propagation and ornamental flower market. Lastly, our continued focus on cash use and capital allocation has provided us with the stability to continue to support, and importantly, pursue long-term profitable growth opportunities for our shareholders.
Thanks, Miguel. Speaking of Bevo, our final question is regarding, a bit more about Bevo and its role in generating value for Aurora shareholders. Can you speak to that?
Absolutely. It's a great question. You know, since acquiring a controlling interest in Bevo in August of last year, it has played an important role for the company. Firstly, Bevo's contributions have supported us in achieving three consecutive quarters of positive adjusted EBITDA, and their business will continue to be an important contributor to the business' ongoing cash flow. Secondly, with Aurora Sky and most recently, the Aurora Sun facility under Bevo's management, we've been able to remove the ongoing operating costs, these underutilized assets from our cannabis business, while providing Bevo the path to double its revenue and cash flow over the next two to three years. Lastly, by investing in Bevo, we are able to diversify our business and benefit from the tailwinds in the controlled environment agriculture industry. These offer compelling long-term value creation attributes that we expect to accrue to Aurora shareholders.
Thanks, Miguel, and that concludes our Q&A session.
We have now concluded our question and answer session, and I want to thank everybody for attending and participating in the meeting. If you have any additional questions or would like to have a follow up on any of these questions presented to the meeting which are not addressed, please email our investor relations team at ir@auroramj.com. Thanks, everybody. Hope you have a great rest of your day.
This concludes today's conference call. Thank you for participating. You may now disconnect.