On November 11, 2019 Neptune Wellness Solutions Inc. ("Neptune" or the "Corporation") (NASDAQ: NEPT) (TSX: NEPT), reported its financial and operating results for the three-month period ended September 30, 2019 (Press release, Neptune Technologies et Bioressources inc, NOV 11, 2019, View Source [SID1234550884]). All amounts are in thousands of Canadian dollars except specified otherwise.
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Second Quarter Financial and Corporate Highlights:
Total revenues for the three-month period ended September 30, 2019 amounted to $6,512, representing an increase of $2,151 or 49% over the first quarter ended June 30, 2019 and a decrease of $559 or 8% compared to $7,071 for the three-month period ended September 30, 2018.
Revenues from the Cannabis segment reached $1,220, an increase of $1,182 sequentially from the three-month period ended June 30, 2019. Neptune started the commercial operations of its Cannabis segment in March 2019 and hence had no revenues in the prior year period ended September 30, 2018.
Revenues from the Nutraceutical segment for the three-month period ended September 30, 2019 amounted to $5,149, representing an increase of 20% sequentially, over the first quarter ended June 30, 2019 and a decrease of $1,922 or 27% compared to $7,071 for the three-month period ended September 30, 2018. The decrease in revenues was attributable to timing of orders of our nutrition business.
Net loss for the three-month period ended September 30, 2019 amounted to $20,775 compared to $3,050 for the three-month period ended September 30, 2018, an increase of $17,725. The increase is mainly attributable to an increase in stock-based compensation expense, depreciation and amortization and to accretion expense on contingent consideration combined with a lower Adjusted EBITDA1.
Adjusted EBITDA1 decreased by $3,353 for the three-month period ended September 30, 2019 to ($4,581) compared to the three-month period ended September 30, 2018. The decrease in Adjusted EBITDA1 is mainly attributable to investments made in the cannabis segment to grow the workforce in anticipation of increased sales volume as well as an increase in salaries and benefits at the corporate level.
On July 24, 2019, Neptune completed the acquisition of the assets of SugarLeaf. Neptune paid an initial consideration for SugarLeaf of $23.7 million (US$18.1 million), a combination of $15.8 million (US$12 million) in cash and 7.9 million (US$6.1 million) or 1,587,301 in common shares.
On August 14, 2019, Neptune announced the creation of Neptune Ventures, a strategic investment arm and technology incubator which is expected to stimulate innovation and partnerships in the cannabis and wellness industries.
On August 22, 2019, Neptune announced the addition of two new members to its team to support the company’s rapid growth. Neptune appointed Stephen Lijoi, as Vice-President Operations and José Dominguez as Cannabis Sommelier and Formulation Specialist.
In August 2019, Neptune appointed Mr. Philippe Trudeau to its Board of Directors. Mr. Trudeau is a visionary leader with extensive experience in consumer goods. Mr. Trudeau spent 25 years at Trudeau Corporation, a consumer products company marketed in more than 70 countries, where he held many key positions including president from 2010 to 2018.
Subsequent to Quarter-end
On October 4, 2019, Neptune announced a new strategic partnership with American Media LLC ("American Media") which will provide US$12 million in advertising and creative services to Neptune to support the marketing and commercialization of Neptune’s consumer-facing brands in the U.S. Neptune will issue 3,000,000 warrants to AMI, each warrant allowing the holder to purchase one common share of Neptune at an exercise price of US$8.00 per share and with a 5-year expiration date.
On October 17, 2019, Neptune announced that it entered into an agreement to provide extraction services to a large U.S.-based farming services operation. Under the contract terms, Neptune will receive hemp biomass to be processed and transformed into crude oil extracts. The 2-year agreement could reach a total value in excess of US$20 million.
On October 17, 2019, the Corporation announced the appointment of Brett DuBose as Vice-President of Sales for the U.S. Region. Brett has more than 20 years of sales experience, most recently with Lonza Consumer Health and Nutrition where he was Associate Director Sales, for the Eastern U.S and Canada.
On November 11, 2019, Neptune announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement with International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE: IFF) to co-develop hemp-derived CBD products for the mass retail and health & wellness markets. Under this strategic product development partnership, IFF will leverage its intellectual property (IP) for taste, scent, nutrition, and ingredients to provide essential oils and product development resources. Neptune will leverage its proprietary cold ethanol extraction processes and formulation IP to deliver high quality, full and broad-spectrum extracts for the development, manufacture and commercialization of hemp-derived products, infused with essential oils, for the cosmetics, personal care and home care markets. The initial launch will include a variety of topical products across the aromatherapy category, a market estimated at approximately $3 billion annually. Neptune will issue 2,000,000 warrants to IFF, each warrant allowing the holder to purchase one common share of Neptune at an exercise price of US $12.00 per share and with a 5-year expiration date.
"We have a strong opportunity in the consumer market, and in recent months I have been focused on developing our B2B and B2C strategy for the U.S. market. According to most estimates, the U.S. hemp-derived CBD market is expected to exceed US$20 billion at retail in the next five years. This market size is roughly three to four times larger than the expected size of the Canadian cannabis market and represents our largest opportunity today. The collaboration agreement with IFF and the American Media partnership will help raise the awareness of our CBD brand, Forest Remedies. We expect to introduce our first consumer products at retail locations and online with rollout commencing in the first half of CY2020," stated Michael Cammarata, CEO of Neptune.
"We achieved a significant milestone in mid October when we completed our Phase II capacity expansion. This additional capacity will alleviate our constraints in the near-term and help accelerate the company’s revenue growth in the cannabis segment. However, the start-up of our ethanol process has been longer than initially expected which has delayed the full ramp-up by one month to the end of December. With regards to our CO2 operations, we have been running seven days a week since the end of July and we are pleased with our yields and quality of extracts." Said Stephen Lijoi, VP Operations.
"I believe we have created a very solid foundation to grow our company with a well capitalized balance sheet. Moreover, we are at an inflection point in terms of profitability. The dynamics of the legal cannabis and hemp extraction markets remain favorable with a scarcity of biomass extraction capacity in both Canada and the U.S., which should lead to continued sustained demand for our extraction services. We expect our revenue growth to accelerate for the remainder of the FY2020 based on the strong demand witnessed for extraction services. Lastly, we have a comprehensive strategy based on geographic diversification, and a wide scope of value-added services, as well as unique and distinctive products," concluded Mr. Cammarata.
Financial Results
Total revenues reached $6,512 for the three-month ended September 30, 2019, down versus last year’s revenues of $7,071. The majority of the revenues during the quarter were generated in the Nutraceutical segment. The decline in total revenues was attributable to timing of orders of our nutrition business.
For the three-month ended September 30, 2019, Adjusted EBITDA1 was a loss of $4,581 compared with a loss of $1,228 last year. The increased Adjusted EBITDA1 loss is due to investments made in the cannabis segment to grow the workforce in anticipation of increased sales volume as well as an increase in salaries and benefits at the corporate level. The decrease can also be explained by an increase in litigation legal fees and additional SG&A coming from SugarLeaf.
Neptune reported a net loss of $20,775 for the three-month ended September 30, 2019, an increase compared to a net loss of $3,050 last year. The increase in net loss is mainly attributable to an increase in stock-based compensation expense, depreciation and amortization and accretion expense recognized on contingent consideration as well as for the same reasons as stated in the Adjusted EBITDA1 section above.
Cash and cash equivalents were $24,399 as of September 30, 2019. On November 6, 2019, Neptune closed a revolving line of credit with a large Canadian financial institution for an amount of $5 million to support the nutraceutical segment.
Management Update
This summer Neptune initiated a search process to hire a new CFO. This process is well underway and the Corporation’s new CFO is expected to be announced in the coming months. Following the departure of Mario Paradis, Claudie Lauzon has been appointed interim CFO of the Company. Ms. Lauzon is the Corporate Controller of Neptune and has been employed by the Corporation for 10 years.
Official Launch of the Forest Remedies Brand
Our CBD consumer brand, Forest Remedies, was acquired along with the purchase of SugarLeaf Labs. Initially, Forest Remedies was used to gain consumer insights on CBD finished product forms. Since its beginning in the fall of 2018, the brand has gained traction locally. The increasing demand for high quality hemp-derived products has led Neptune to recently rebrand Forest Remedies to appeal to a wider audience. Forest Remedies offers finished products such as tinctures, balms, massage oils, soft gels, and pet soothers. Additional products are currently in development. Forest Remedies products will continue to be available online (www.forestremedies.com) and could enter mass market retailers in calendar 2020. With innovation and a focus on quality, Neptune is confident in its ability to successfully grow the Forest Remedies brand. The company will deploy a marketing campaign and will be launching a new online platform in early calendar 2020.
Research and Development Initiatives
Neptune is undergoing and/or planning 10 research and clinical studies to further elucidate the benefits of its MaxSimil omega-3 licensed technology. Among the several initiatives underway is a clinical study that is a follow-up on a successful nonclinical study to determine if MaxSimil fish oil, when used as a carrier oil, can increase the absorption of cannabinoids in humans. In another study Neptune will try to establish if our proprietary formulation of MaxSimil fish oil and CBD can help with occasional anxiety from everyday life events. We also have an upcoming clinical study which will look at the use of our proprietary formulation of MaxSimil fish oil and CBD for workout recovery to determine if athletes will benefit from its use. This builds on the findings of our mitochondrial activity and inflammation resolution studies. We have increased our clinical activity because of the benefits we see in combining our omega-3 formulations with cannabinoids and have increased the size of our R&D team accordingly.
Outlook
"We continue to see strong demand for extraction services in Canada. We have provided extraction services to five clients in Canada and expect to continue to diversify our client base in the coming months. While the ramp-up of our phase II ethanol extraction is slower than originally anticipated, once running at full capacity by the end of December, this custom-built specialized equipment should provide Neptune with low operational costs," said Stephen Lijoi, VP Operations at Neptune.
The construction of our Phase IIIa is ongoing and is being adapted to our customers’ needs and changes in the Canadian Federal and Provincial regulatory requirements for Cannabis 2.0. This process is expected to be completed before fiscal year-end, subject to Health Canada approval. The expansion of our packaging capabilities is tracking as planned along with the installation of security measures for our warehouse to comply with Health Canada’s requirements. We expect to send a license amendment to Health Canada for the certification of those areas early in calendar 2020.
The next few months will be very active at Neptune. We have several projects ongoing in Canada such as obtaining our organic certification, applying for our sales license and further down the road, seeking our EU GMP certification. These future catalysts should help the company accelerate its revenue growth in Canada.
Our U.S. operations are scaling up as planned and our facility in North Carolina should reach a processing capacity of 1,500,000 kg of biomass annually by the end of December, as expected. The recent changes implemented by the USDA are expected to increase the cultivation of hemp in the US and could translate into increased demand for biomass extraction in the coming years. The recent client wins are an endorsement of our ability to provide superior extraction services. Our talent pool continues to grow with the addition of key personnel such as a VP Sales – U.S. Region and a Head – Quality Assurance both of which should help support additional growth.