Good. All right. Thanks everyone for joining us for the next fireside chat at our 45th annual Growth Conference. For those of you in the room who have not yet had the chance to meet, my name is Luke Hannan. I'm the Consumer Analyst at our Toronto office. Next up, we have Aurora Cannabis, specifically the CFO of Aurora Cannabis being Simona King. For those who aren't yet familiar with the story, Aurora Cannabis is one of, if not the largest, medical cannabis producer in the world, with a very healthy and robust presence in Canada. In addition to that, there's other exciting markets that we're going to talk a lot more about over the course of the next 25 minutes, including Australia, Poland, Germany, and many others as well. Thank you for joining us, Simona.
Maybe we'll start just a high level, give everyone in the room a brief overview and a history of Aurora Cannabis.
Great. Thanks, Luke. Hello everyone. It's great to be here at the 45th Annual Growth Conference. Yes, happy to share a couple of highlights on Aurora before jumping into questions. As you mentioned, for those maybe not familiar with Aurora Cannabis, we are the leading Canadian-based global medical cannabis company with leadership positions in Canada, Europe, and Australia. We're also the largest Canadian exporter of high-grade cannabis products, medical cannabis products. We manufacture these products out of our facilities, GMP facilities in Canada, as well as Germany. We have very much ample supply and capacity to support the growing demand for medical cannabis, especially on the international side. Fiscal 2025 was a record-setting year for us on numerous financial metrics. With our Q1 recent performance for fiscal 2026, we believe we're well positioned and have a very bright future at the company.
I say this also based on a couple of factors as well. First, a couple of years ago, we made the strategic decision to focus on medical cannabis, and especially outside of North America. We invested not only the focus, but invested a lot of resources and capital to build our presence in that space. The margins are significantly higher than the rec/consumer segment, and that's contributed significantly to the strong performance we've had in the last couple of years. Second, the access to global medical cannabis is expanding. We expect significant growth coming, especially from the international markets, where global medical cannabis is estimated to be about a more than $5 billion market. A lot of that growth being fueled by Europe and Australia/New Zealand. Third, we were early adopters and have built strong operational and commercial capabilities and execution.
We do believe that that really sets us apart from our peers. We continue to stronghold long positions and strong positions in the markets that are established, as well as emerging markets. Finally, we've been very focused and very disciplined on our investments and focusing a lot on the profitable segments of the industry. Coupled with a very strong balance sheet and our financial flexibility, we do believe we're able to seize on all these growth opportunities, continue to deliver strong results, and ultimately create long-lasting shareholder value.
You touched on, there's lots to get into there, but there is one subject that you touched on there, which is the fact that the medical channel is higher margin compared to the adult use channel. What are the drivers behind that?
Yeah, as I pointed out, we do have very strong margins, actually industry-leading margins both across medical and also consumer. It's in about the mid-60%, and these are gross margins I'm referring to. That's again contributed significantly to our cash flow as well as our profitability. There are a couple of factors that differentiate the two areas. Focusing on the Canadian consumer side, there are a lot of players in that space chasing a small percentage of the market. As a result, there has been a lot of price compression in that space, which has impacted the margins. Now we are seeing stabilization in the consumer business in Canada, so that's a good thing. In terms of the medical side, the margins are significantly higher, fueled a lot by demand coming from consumers and patients.
Patients are willing to spend more money, and in many cases, they are reimbursed by the Canadian insurers. They're willing to spend more on high-quality premium products to treat their various therapeutic ailments. The other factors that impact the margins are basically operational efficiencies, especially for us, as we've been able to consistently bring our cost program down. It's a mix of demand, price compression, and product offerings that are impacting the margins.
Yeah, that makes sense. You mentioned what the market size looks like for medical cannabis, global medical cannabis. That is, I recognize that that's very much a changing figure because gradually it seems like we're seeing greater adoption of the medicinal benefits of cannabis and by extension, medical cannabis. What is it about Aurora that makes you uniquely positioned to be able to go out and capture that share? I think most companies might look at that opportunity and say, OK, it's time for us to be able to get involved in this market. What is it that, in your view, differentiates Aurora in going out and being able to capture a piece of that pie?
Yeah, this significant market growth and over $5 billion estimated provides a great opportunity for us to continue to capitalize on this growth. You kind of touched on it there, especially in Europe and Australia, the patient population is underpenetrated, especially when you compare it to the Canadian market. When you think of the percentages in Canada and Europe and Australia eventually getting there, there's a lot more upside and growth possibilities in these markets. What differentiates us versus other competitors that are entering, some that are just entering in the space? We've been in these markets for almost a decade, both in Europe as well as Australia. As a result of being, in many cases, the number one player, in some cases the second in the space, we build a lot of local knowledge, have built strong partnerships with pharmacies, with distributors, with physicians.
In many places, we also have reps on the ground. We've built this long knowledge base and operational experience for many, many years. As a result, we have a lot of brand awareness. The products that we offer are high-quality premium products that patients look for. That's a big aspect of it. There are a couple of other parts. Regulatory expertise is really important. We've also built a lot of knowledge from a regulatory standpoint in both of these spaces. Finally, ensuring that there's consistent supply of GMP manufactured product, which you actually have to have GMP product. It's a medical market, both in Europe and Australia, is really, really critical because when a patient goes to fill their prescription, if the product is not available, you actually have to go back to the physician. It's very much like a pharmaceutical marketplace.
Right. When it comes to Canada, your home market, it was 2013, I think, that you built your first facility, and the first in Western Canada as well. Just take us through, I mean, it's a bit unique in that you are a medical cannabis-focused company, but that doesn't preclude you necessarily from going in and participating in the adult use market. Canada is actually one of those markets where you are in both sort of areas. Is there any advantage that you get when it comes to maybe securing new medical opportunities? Is there any advantage as a function of you being both in the medical and the adult use markets in Canada?
Yeah, and both markets are actually very important to us. There's absolutely quite a few advantages in being both. What we get from the rec use market or the consumer market, we get a lot of insights on patient preferences or customer preferences, understanding what people are looking for, whether that's, for example, the learnings are the potency, the product format, aroma, terpene profile. A lot of learnings come from understanding what patients and customers need, both in consumer cannabis as well as on the medical cannabis side. That's something that we also bring to the international markets. A lot of the focus for us is on the medical cannabis side. Of course, having some presence in consumer also helps from a manufacturing standpoint.
Right.
As we think about how we best allocate our volumes across the different markets, supporting the different markets, that helps keep our costs down as well. It's still very important for us to keep a pulse on the adult use market, with a lot of the focus on the higher margin medical space in Canada.
I mentioned off the top Australia being a market that you're in right now. Two-part question. I mean, what's your presence? What scale are you at in that market? Secondly, Australia is a little bit unique compared to the rest of your footprint because I think there are greater barriers to entry in there as well. Maybe if you could just touch on both your presence there and then also what are the barriers to entry in that market.
Yeah, so we've, you know, after Canada, Australia is the next biggest market for us. We've been in Australia for quite some time, first as a partnership with another company. Then last year, we acquired the company that we partnered with, so we have the full access to that market. We also hold the number two position. After the acquisition, that allowed us to not only contribute to our profitability, but ensure that we have the strong position in the market. Australia is an interesting market. It's a fast-growing market as well. It's also highly regulated, and there are more competitors coming into the space. In terms of the regulatory body, it's the TGA, which is the regulatory body that regulates everything related to cannabis. Just to step back a little bit, it's very much a pharmaceutical approach, where it's very much driven physician, the pharmacy-led as well.
The TGA regulates how products get to the market, how they're approved, as well as how patients get access to these products. It's very, very tightly managed. It also regulates the supply that comes in. It has to be similar to Europe. A GMP manufacturer has to be TGA, GMP manufactured product. When you think about barriers to entry, ensuring that we have TGA, GMP manufactured product is really, really important. Building strong relationships with distributors, the pharmacies, as well as physicians. We have reps on the ground that manage relationships with physicians, as well as the pharmacies. It is also a barrier to entry as, if you're coming new into that market and establishing that requires not only time, but resources, as well as brand awareness to get to the places, the positions that we're in.
Those are some of the factors I would say that put us in a really favorable position from a competitive standpoint. Again, continuing to capitalize on the growth that we're seeing in Australia.
Maybe we'll switch gears and talk a little bit about Germany here as well. What's interesting is I think if most people were to compare Germany to most other medical markets in the world, they would notice that it seems like patient penetration is a little bit lower than elsewhere. What's your view on why that's the case?
Yeah, so we've seen substantial growth coming after de-scheduling, which occurred last year. That pretty much opened the market in Germany, not only to the reimbursed population, but very much the self-payer space. The underrepresented or underpenetration of patients, that's as a result of it not being as open. Following de-scheduling, that's increased, and we believe it will continue to increase. There's a lot more upside there. The self-payer part has grown significantly, and a lot of patients get access, especially through the telehealth medicine platforms there. The stigmatization of cannabis as treatment options has also been impacted in a positive way. I've met with numerous telehealth platforms, and there's definitely a strong demand for having cannabis as treatment options for whatever ailments people have. That's contributed to the growth that we've seen in Germany and definitely a lot more upside. The other part is having GMP- manufactured product.
There are some players that are getting into the space, but that also requires additional steps to get it to GMP, and hence, the costs are higher as well. By us having the product coming from Canada and cost-effective, we're able to keep the margins quite high in Germany. We also have a strong regulatory capability in Germany that also, as I think about how that market can impact, influence other markets, that regulatory capability has a lot of impact in terms of discussions with the regulatory bodies in Germany, as well as other places from an influence standpoint.
Right. That makes sense. On Poland as well, I think this is something you talked about either last quarter or the quarter prior, but there was a change in the regulatory framework in the backdrop there that did impact prescription volumes. Can you just expand on that? Also, what do you see, I suppose, longer term as far as growth within Poland?
Yeah. Poland, another important market for us, we hold number one, number two position, depends during the times of the year. Poland's also a very interesting market because it's probably the one that's the most pharmaceutical focused, where product registrations take a long time. There's a lot of scrutiny on it. What we've seen recently is the change in telehealth medicine, where it was fairly easy in Poland to get prescriptions through the telehealth platforms. Last November, that changed from a regulatory standpoint. What we've seen then, of course, it was much harder for patients to get prescriptions. What's happened over the past half year is that a lot more physical clinics have opened up because the demand is still there. Patients are not getting their treatment through the pharmaceutical path. They're getting it through the illicit market. That's not ideal.
Through these physical clinics that have opened up, we are seeing demand actually picking up quite a bit. We've seen that also in our recent results, Q1 results. We've also launched two new cultivars that have the highest potency in the Polish market. That's been incredibly well received and seeing it as a preferred choice of product for patients now. It just took a little bit of time, but we do expect those levels to come back because the demand is incredibly strong.
Right. Maybe it makes sense to talk about the U.K. as well. Just how long you've been there, how that market has evolved as well. I think it's only been more recently that they've added more form factors that had to have helped your growth as well. If you could just expand on that.
Yeah, the U.K. is a very exciting market for us, another growth story in our portfolio. We've been in the U.K. since 2019 and expanding rather quickly. What's interesting about the U.K. is that it offers not only the patient access to cannabis expanding, but in terms of product offerings, it's the one that's most diverse. In most parts of Europe, a lot of it is flower, whereas in the U.K., it's more open to different product types. We actually recently launched an inhalable cannabis extract that's doing very, very well. By having these innovative products come into play from our portfolio and some of them, again, coming from products that we have in Canada that have done well, we're seeing a lot of demand for our products.
We've also expanded our distribution relationships with a variety of different distributors so that we're able to access as many of the patients as possible. We definitely want to keep a close eye out as we do think it's going to continue to be favorable from a regulatory standpoint, as well as acceptance of a lot of different innovative product offerings.
Two other markets, and we'll sort of finish the whole tour de force here. Switzerland and Austria. What are the next steps for you guys there?
Yeah, we're already in Switzerland and Austria. The markets are not growing as fast as the other three markets that we're big in. One of the things that we're focusing on is continuing to partner with distributors to increase the volume and product offerings there as well. The regulatory environment is favorable, which is always a very positive thing for us as we continue to not only enter new markets, but expand in existing markets. Definitely expect growth in those markets as well, keeping in mind that they're not as large as Europe, Poland, and Germany.
We've gone through the sort of the whole portfolio there. Now just taking a broader step back, what are the main criteria that you're looking for when determining whether or not to enter a particular medical market? We are going to see gradually more countries, more jurisdictions accept medical cannabis. It only makes sense that there will be more opportunities. I can't imagine you'll be in every single country where there happens to be a medical cannabis program available. Just take us through what the thought process is, what you're looking for when determining whether or not to enter a particular market.
Yeah, so we take a very, I would say, very thoughtful approach when entering new markets. There are a couple of things that drive that, I guess, criteria or thought process. Part of a big part of it is the regulatory environment, where if it's a favorable, possibly a favorable regulatory environment, that's something that's attractive to us. As you can imagine, it requires investment and resources in entering markets. We want to make sure we can be there for the long term. We also take, I would say, an asset-light approach. We don't necessarily have to acquire a distributor or another company there, but partner very closely with existing distributors, which could be cannabis-focused distributors or more broadly with other pharmaceutical products, which again, we partner with all kinds.
That approach allows us to be very mindful of how we deploy capital and ensure that we tightly manage our expenses while trying to get a foothold in those markets. That was the approach in some of the markets now that we're currently in and have big positions or big market share in, finding the capabilities and expertise that we have that we can also leverage. For example, in Europe, we can leverage from our markets in Germany and Poland if we expand more broadly in other parts of Europe. It's more of a light, thoughtful approach and then monitoring to see how things open up, like France, for example.
Right. Last one before we wrap up, being mindful of time here, just broader thoughts on capital allocation and also maybe speaking a little bit to the cash position as well.
Yeah, so as I mentioned, a lot of our focus has been on driving profitable growth, continuing to expand our EBITDA margins, both margins as well as absolute dollars, and delivering positive free cash flow, which we did for the first time this past fiscal year, which is not something that's commonly done in the cannabis industry. It has been a drive for us to capitalize on the growth and deliver on profitability. That's contributed to our strong cash balance, $186 million on our balance sheet, that fantastic position to be in. As we think about how do we deploy that capital, it's multiple things that we take into consideration, right? Driving the continued organic growth of our business. We do believe that's our biggest value driver for the company and opportunities to continue to differentiate ourselves as well as continue to add to our cash flow and EBITDA.
We're also being very thoughtful about M&A opportunities, looking at things that are accretive to our business, fit strategically with our business as well, and augment what we do. That is definitely something that we look at very, very regularly. To give an example of capital allocation that was very profitable for us, the acquisition of MedReleaf Australia last year, where we took on the entire business and that's contributed a lot to our bottom line.
Right.
That's how we're thinking about it. Of course, CapEx investments that help bring our yields down and our costs of goods that improve our margins are other areas where we look to deploy capital.
Great. Any questions from the room before we wrap up?
Great question. We don't have a presence in the U.S., and what we're doing is monitoring very closely to see how de-scheduling and eventually federal regulations for cannabis will go. We do believe that given our strength in medical cannabis, again, being the leaders in the space, that will be the first space that would probably be legalized. We would be very well positioned to enter the space if that's what makes sense at that point in time. It could take some time. The first step is de-scheduling. What's good about that, now all the cannabis companies are benefiting from that news and, you know, the Trump news that came out, whether you have a presence in the U.S. or not, is that it allows for more research to be done and opens up the space to potentially truly going down the pharmaceutical path.
It is an area that we're monitoring very closely.
Great. Thanks for your time.
Awesome. Great. Thank you so much.