Yeah, good afternoon, everybody. We really appreciate your participation in today's event. As you can see from the many signs posted in the venue, our firm values the annual Extel Investor Poll that is now open for balloting. If you think we've earned it, we'd be very grateful for your recognition with a five-star vote for TD Cowen. With that, I'm happy to be up here with Simona King, Chief Financial Officer with Aurora Cannabis. Fiscal 2024 and 2025 so far has been a real milestone period. You know, they've completed a multi-year restructuring effort, which included the right-sizing of their production capacity and exiting some unpromising markets. You cleaned up your balance sheet. You're now cash positive or debt-free on the cannabis operations, strong net cash position.
You've also grown substantially in Germany as they deschedule. Now with three quarters through fiscal 2025, you've continued to build on that momentum. I just, you know, for the audience that might not be familiar with your story and with your business and the improvements there, maybe just walk us through what changed in the medical cannabis space that really shaped your transformation over the last couple of years.
Great. Thanks, Derek. Hello, everyone. It is great to be here at the TD Cowen Conference, Consumer Conference, and share some insights around the global medical cannabis space as well as what has contributed to our significant growth over the past couple of years and how we think about our future. For those that do not know the Aurora story, we are the leader in global cannabis, globally and based out of Canada and have leadership positions in Canada, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand. As you pointed out, this current fiscal year has been a record-setting year, especially financially. We are very bullish about what the future brings for the company. There are several reasons that I make that point.
First, we made the strategic decision a couple of years back to focus, almost, our entire business on medical cannabis, which is highly profitable and high margins, and that has contributed to our financial success over the past couple of years. We believe that the regulatory framework is a lot more favorable outside, especially outside of North America. We have seen that come to fruition in some of the markets that we are in. Especially with the U.S. uncertainty around federal legalization, it made a lot of sense for us to focus a lot on international markets. Second, we have seen continued expansion of medical cannabis access for patients. We believe that actually this could be a more than CAD 5 billion market over the next couple of years, and we are positioned very well to capitalize on that growth.
Third, we have had early mover advantage in the medical cannabis space and have built strong capabilities that's really helped us differentiate versus our peers and allowed us to not only continue to expand in our existing markets, but also expand in potentially emerging markets as well. Finally, we have a very strong financial foundation. We have a very strong balance sheet, no cannabis debt, and that allows us to be agile and flexible, seize opportunities as they come. We have delivered strong results, continue to do that, and ultimately create long-standing shareholder value.
A lot of good stuff there, Simona. You touched on some of it off the top. You have strong market share in many of the major medical markets, obviously number one in Canada, number two in Australia and Germany. Maybe just talk about the competitive dynamics in each of those markets and, you know, what's allowed you to really maintain or continue to gain that market share.
Sure. Let me start off with Canada and then I'll talk about Germany and Australia next. Our Canadian medical cannabis business is a really important market for us, and it's continued to be a very stable and dependable market. What's contributed to our competitive position, especially as we've seen that market overall decline, is our revenues have increased as well as our market share has increased during this period as well. What's contributed to that is our strong focus on the patient and the infrastructure we've built through our e-platform, our sales distribution model in Canada. Actually, we sell directly to patients that register on our website. We focus a lot on the customer and patient experience, along with providing innovative products to the patients, as there are a lot of different needs people have.
Our continued focus there has really solidified our position in the Canadian medical space. Shifting gears to the growing international markets and especially Germany and Australia, what resonates incredibly well in those markets is consistent supply of product. Especially, it has to be EU GMP- manufactured product for Europe and, for Australia, TGA GMP- manufactured product. That consistent supply is really critical as patients are all medical patients. They get prescriptions that need to be filled at pharmacies and want to make sure that the supply is there. There are actually very few LPs, Canadian companies that have the GMP manufacturing capabilities, and we are one of them and have the capacity to support this. Other factors that are important are continuing to provide innovative products. There is always a need for new products to come to the market.
A lot of that, you know, comes from Canada and we sell it in these markets. We've seen an increase in GMP demand for GMP- manufactured flour in both Australia as well as Germany. I will add that having on-the-ground experience, as we have had a presence in all these areas for quite some time, in Germany since 2017, Australia since 2018, it is really important as we build strong relationships with pharmacies, with the wholesalers, and ultimately with the prescribers. That's, you know, set us up really nicely from a competitive standpoint as well.
Super helpful. Maybe just switching gears to pricing. You know, price compression has been an issue, mostly in the Canadian market and to a lesser extent in medical cannabis over the past couple of years. Can you just talk about what you're seeing in terms of the pricing environment now? Is there a risk for price to come down further?
Yeah, no, a great, great comment and question. You're right, we've seen a lot of pricing compression in the Canadian rec space, the consumer space, over the years. There's a lot more competition in that space. We've also seen it stabilize in the consumer market. Now the margins for consumer, part of the consumer business, are much lower, and a lot of that is driven by the prices. On the Canadian medical side, there's less price sensitivity and less price compression. Some of that, you know, a lot of the patients are reimbursed patients.
Right.
There is less impact from pricing pressures in that part of the business. Those patients want premium products, so they are also willing to pay a higher price. That is what we have seen in terms of the trends in the Canadian marketplace.
I guess, do the, how did the veterans program must fit into that piece as well?
Yeah, absolutely. Most of our patients in the medical space are veterans. It is important for us to continue to support their needs, not only from a product standpoint, but also from the customer service experience. That has continued in terms of their, you know, the prices that they pay for the products. Those are insured patients as well.
Okay.
We also expend to some parts of the civilian population that's also insured.
Okay. Maybe a bit of a niche question on taxes, but there have been, and probably more directed to Canada, but have there been talks around unifying the different provincial excise tax schemes into one? I guess where are we in that process?
Yeah, I would say it's promising to see the level of discussion that's occurred around the excise tax reform and also more broadly around regulatory reform in the cannabis space. I would say probably it's too soon to tell what the outcome of this would be. You know, a couple of things to point out is that the schemes, the excise tax schemes, are very onerous, especially for the consumer sector in cannabis. It puts a lot of pressure on the companies as well as the customers. Less of an impact on the medical side, you know, so I think that's good, that's good for us. Government collects a lot of duties. The Canadian government collects more duties than cigarettes and alcohol combined.
That's crazy.
We do think that we will see reform there. If anything, unification of the physical stamps into either a national stamp or a digital stamp is probably the likely outcome. That will bring benefits, you know, not only to us, but other players in the space because it allows for better inventory management, lower labor costs to manage through all of that. That is probably where it might end up. We will see more this fall, I guess, when the federal budget comes.
Yeah, obviously depends on the timing around the government.
Exactly.
Okay. You distribute medical cannabis directly to patients in Canada and through pharmacies in most of your top international markets. Maybe just compare these distribution methods and maybe highlight how customer acquisition and the margins differ.
Mm-hmm. Yeah. The distribution models really are a reflection of the regulatory environment in the various markets and the framework that these markets work under. They do vary. Canada, I would say, is unique in the sales distribution model where we, in the medical cannabis space, that is, we sell directly to the patients. They register on our site, and we ship the product directly to the patient. Going back to what I mentioned earlier, it's really important to set that infrastructure in terms of not only the e-commerce platform, but call centers, the warehouses, and ensure that the right product gets to the patient on time and give them the optionality of a variety of product offerings. That's, you know, that's taken time.
That's, you know, that is competitive entry or barrier to entry as we've been in this segment for quite some time. I know there are other players that are getting into the space, but it's an investment and it takes time to get that patient acquisition in Canada. In Europe, in Australia, it's different. That's because it's more of a traditional pharmaceutical distribution model where patients need a prescription from the doctor and they go to the pharmacy to fill it. What we've seen in these markets and what's important is partnering with local wholesalers who have strong relationships with the pharmacies as well as, you know, prescribers. That's been very helpful in partnering with local groups on the ground and ensuring that we also have sales reps in the various markets.
We do interact with physicians to ensure that they're aware of our product offerings and what the patients may want to get. The access does depend on the market itself.
Okay. As I heard you talking to several clients today, I think first mover advantage has really helped you guys out in that area.
Absolutely. There's definitely, because we've been, for example, in Germany, we've been in that market since 2017 and Australia since 2018. And, you know, we've built these relationships over time. Also, there's strong brand awareness for our products and the consistent quality of our product, which is really important because, you know, a patient, they go to the pharmacy to fill the script and the product is not available, which happens to many other players in the space. That's not great 'cause they have to then go back to the doctor and get a different prescription. That has been resonating really well in the markets that we serve. We've also seen a lot of telehealth, especially in Germany, and that's been a big contributor to the growth in the German market.
These telehealth platforms where it's, you know, the patient gets a prescription on, on the platform and then the product gets chosen through the platform. We partner very closely with these telehealth platforms to ensure our products are at the top of the page, and they're like the first ones that come to mind.
Makes sense. Almost like a Google algorithm.
Yeah. Yeah.
Gets the talk.
Anyways, yeah.
In general, I guess that the medical cannabis margin is much higher than recreational cannabis. Maybe just talk about why that's the case. Also, you know, you've got a long-term target for medical adjusted gross margin at 60%, but you've consistently beat that target. Just curious on how sustainable you think that is.
Yeah. Pricing is a big contributor to the impact to our margins. As you pointed out, the consumer sector has lower margins again from all the pricing compression and competition that I discussed earlier. You know, the pressure on pricing in the medical space is less so.
Right.
We have actually seen less pricing compression, not only in Canada, but in the international markets as well. That has contributed significantly to our higher margins, as a majority of our business is medical. The other factor that comes into play is the cost of goods sold. Through a lot of the work we have done restructuring the company and the operations in the past, improving our yields, that has brought our cost of goods sold down. A combination of the higher prices in the medical cannabis space that we serve in those markets and lower cost of goods sold has contributed significantly to our higher margins. In terms of the target of 60%, we do believe that is still a strong and appropriate target for us. There is always uncertainty that can come, especially from international markets and potential regulatory changes.
So we do think that's still an appropriate target, from a margin perspective.
That price compression that you've seen in Europe, it's been at a much slower pace than we've seen in Canada?
It has. Even though we do not split out margins market by market, we have seen just overall margins in the international markets to be higher. What contributes to that is, you know, in Canada, patients, the medical cannabis patients may go to the adult use market to get their products. They have some choices. In the international markets, there really are, there is no other choice because you only get it through a prescription. There are not only fewer players in these international markets, so less competition, but also there are not as many alternatives for patients. They are willing to pay the prices that are commanded in those markets. That helps the price compression not come down as much.
I mean, the alternative is the black market and patients are willing to pay more to actually get products that's high quality, safe, and, you know, they know what they're getting.
Right.
We've seen that trend play out. And maybe one other thing to add, we acquired the MedReleaf business in Australia last year.
Right.
We have seen a marked increase not only in our revenue, but also in our margins as a result of fully absorbing that entire business, which is all medical, into our consolidated financials. We have seen the direct impact by incorporating these higher international margins.
Okay. I think what you, you had mentioned also, like what, I think one of your competitive advantages is your EU GMP compliant in, in Europe, right? In February, you announced a supply agreement with Sundial. Maybe speak about that, the significance of that partnership and, you know, in terms of the supply and.
Mm-hmm. Yeah. This allows us to have optionality on how we source and supply the product, where because it's Bevo, it's also internal capacity and external supply. The Sundial agreement was a great partnership for us. It allows us to support the domestic growth as well as Australian market growth. That way we can use our internal capacity to supply the higher growth that we see coming out of Europe for EU GMP- manufactured product, which, as I mentioned before, we have the Canadian, our manufacturing facilities, all GMP- manufactured facilities that support these markets.
Right.
It gives us the optionality and flexibility to allocate product, as needed.
Okay. Maybe along the same lines, can you just give a, I guess a, an indication sort of where your internal manufacturing capacity utilization is?
Yeah. So we breed, cultivate, breed, manufacture our product out of our Canadian manufacturing sites. As I mentioned, most of them are GMP manufactured. We believe that we have enough capacity internal along with the support from some of the third party supply to supply the growth we see over the next couple of years. You know, we also have a facility in Germany, in Leuna, Germany. Actually, we are one of three manufacturers in the country. We have supplied and cultivated the first product coming out of that facility for the German market. Made in Germany, which was a great launch for us.
The combination of supplying out of Canada, which is very sought after, product flower and product along with third party supply and the Germany facility, allows us to ensure that we have enough capacity to support our growth. Over the years, we've been very thoughtful about our capital allocation and our CapEx to support this, the supply and expansion. We've invested internally to not only expand our existing facilities, but improve our yields, which have also added to our capacity.
Yeah.
Over time.
Which makes sense, right? Coming off of a big, restructuring program.
That's right.
Just kind of a wait and see and take the appropriate.
Exactly.
Action. Okay. That's it. You recently completed a CAD 3 million upgrade at your facility in B.C. Let me just talk about what the upgrade entails and sort of what the benefits you're expecting in terms of output and efficiency.
Yeah. Yeah. That is a great example of a smart investment on our part, CAD 3 million investment. This is in our Aurora Alpine facility out of Pemberton, British Columbia. This allowed us not only to increase capacity, but also have superior quality of the product and allowed us to keep our costs down. For a nice investment, we actually have pretty sizable return on this facility investment.
Okay. One of my favorite subjects is innovation. Maybe just talk about why new genetics and products are so important for market share and margin. As a follow-up to that, I guess what gives you the confidence in competing against your peers on this front?
Yeah. What we've noticed across all the markets, the patients and consumers, they're always looking for new product innovations, new product offerings, trying different things. It's pretty common in the space to constantly launch new products, especially innovative formats and different dosages and different potencies as well. For us, that innovative drive has been really critical to ensure that not only we maintain our number one position in the various markets, but also increase our market share. That's something that we focus on tremendously and invest behind as well. We also have patents on some of our cultivars and we've done research and published research on cultivation practices, as well as disease resistance.
Again, that all goes back to really trying to get product out there that the customers want. And, you know, one of the things maybe to point out, we recently announced the powdery mildew work that's been done at the company and that's significant.
Yeah.
Especially in the agricultural type space, it's really important to have that. That's allowed us to ensure biosecurity of our plants, bring down production costs, and ensure that the quality of the product continues. Maybe to add one more thing around, you know, a good example of innovation, we recently launched resin cartridges in the U.K. That's a big deal because in Europe, it's mostly flower and oils. That's generally the format that's sold in Europe. To have this new innovative product that's done really well actually in Canada and Australia come to the U.K., we're very excited about that. We've seen really strong demand for it. You know, it's not so big in terms of the market yet, but we are seeing that grow.
That's a great example of how we are bringing all these learnings, especially from other markets, into Europe as an example.
Sort of like, I'm just curious to like the difference, like the tech, you, you'll hold IP patents. Do you guys, do you hold patents for your various cultivars that you have?
We do for some.
Okay.
Yeah.
Okay. Recently, Tilray, they announced their exit from New Zealand, from the medical cannabis market, while you guys entered the same market in 2024. Maybe just talk about what you're seeing in New Zealand that might, that may be different and what might have contributed to the different strategic decisions made.
Yeah. Yeah. We're actually very bullish about New Zealand. It's not a big country, but it's a growing market. And, you know, a couple of factors that come into play in terms of why we're excited about it. We've shipped the first product to New Zealand a little over a year ago and it is doing very well. We're also expanding that product, the product offerings to customers. The New Zealand market is very difficult to get into. As a result of that, there aren't that many competitors in the space, and we have an opportunity to have a pretty sizable position and a sizable share of the New Zealand market. For us, that's an exciting opportunity. We leverage synergies or leverage, you know, our learnings from Australia.
The Australian team also supports New Zealand. We are able to synergize across the region, in terms of supporting that business, so smaller investment for a lot more return.
I guess so outside of Germany, Australia, U.K., and New Zealand, Poland, any other countries that you think, you know, have potential opportunities?
Yeah. Our primary focus is on driving continued growth in these big markets. We believe there is a lot more upside actually from all these markets that you mentioned and that we have a strong presence and competitive position as well. That is where a lot of our focus is. However, we are also monitoring the regulatory framework in emerging markets. That is how we think about it. If it looks like regulatory dynamics will tend to be favorable, then we will focus a lot more on it. Some of the emerging markets that we are closely monitoring are Spain, France, Switzerland. We actually have a presence in Switzerland. That could continue to grow as well as a pilot program in the Netherlands. These are markets we are monitoring.
When it's the right opportunity, given the capabilities we have in Europe, it's easy for us to jump in if needed.
Awesome. You know, I understand that you have that medical focus, but across the cannabis space, you do still have a small consumer cannabis business. Just maybe speak about the rationale behind this and how having a consumer segment fits into your overall strategy.
Yeah. So it's important for us to still have a foothold in the Canadian consumer business. And, you know, there are a couple of reasons that are important for that is we get a lot of customer insights and preference in terms of like what people like about the products. We get good insights on pricing. And, we also, you know, sort of test out innovation in that market as well. It allows us, which we leverage then into the medical, into the medical channels. We actually see a lot of synergies across both consumer and medical in Canada. And so it's not that much of an effort for us to continue to be in the consumer space. We also, from a manufacturing situation or manufacturing capacity, there's utilization that those volumes take.
Like overhead, for example, that we utilize. And who knows, you know, how these dynamics might change in the medical markets internationally, as there could be a possibility where there's an adult use that will get approved later on. This will give us the opportunity to enter, with those learnings from Canada into the international markets if and when those markets might be approved from an adult use standpoint.
You're waiting in, in the weeds.
Yeah.
No, no pun intended.
There we go.
Okay.
Exactly.
We do not really talk about this business too much or it does not get a lot of love, but you acquired Bevo back in 2022. Maybe just talk about sort of the rationale behind the decision and what your vision is on plant propagation.
Yeah. The Bevo business is actually a really great, strategic investment and partner for us. It's a very, it's accretive to our business. It contributes positive financials, EBITDA as well as cash flow to us. That's great, you know, from a financial and balance sheet standpoint. Also, it allowed us to utilize the large facilities that we had in Alberta where Bevo now uses those facilities, especially for the orchids. Orchids are a pretty sizable market, about CAD 100 million-CAD 200 million annually in North America. Bevo supports, you know, supports that space or sells to that market. It's not only accretive to our business, but utilization of our large facilities that, you know, were then repurposed for the Bevo business.
You know, something to keep an eye out, especially as the growth of orchids will continue in that space.
Awesome. We only have about 30 seconds left. I'm just curious if there's any questions from the audience. Nope. Thank you very much.
Great.
We appreciate it.
Thank you. Absolutely. Thanks, everyone.
Thanks.