Benzinga | May 17, 2021 11:08AM EDT

MediPharm Posts Q1 2021 Results: What Cannabis Stock Investors Need To Know

MediPharm Labs Corp. (TSX:LABS) (OTCQX:MEDIF) (FSE:MLZ) reported Monday its first-quarter revenue amounted to CA$5.49 million ($4.53 million), down by roughly 9% sequentially and 50% year-over-year.

Adjusted EBITDA, a non-IFRS measure, came in negative at roughly CA$6.16 million, representing an improvement from a CA$8.77 million loss in the prior quarter and a loss of CA$5.66 million in the same quarter of 2020.

Greg Hunter, CFO of the Barrie, Ontario-based company, called the quarter a "cross-over period to our future state as the preferred global cannabis API provider to medical and wellness markets."

Q1 2021 Highlights

* Gross profit was negative at CA$680 000 compared to a negative gross profit of CA$24.7 million in the previous quarter and CA$10.9 million in the same period of 2020.

* A negative gross margin was 12%, compared to a negative gross margin of 408% in the last three months of 2020 and 98% in the prior year's corresponding quarter.

* Net loss amounted to approximately CA$13.9 million, after shrinking by 55% sequentially and 37% year-over-year.

* International sales rose to CA$1.8 million over the last three months of 2020, to CA$2.1 million in the first quarter of 2021.

* The company achieved more than CA$1.5 million in cost savings.

* As of March 31, the company had CA$42.1 million in cash and cash equivalents.

"We commenced 2021 focused on establishing our presence as a pharmaceutical company while ramping up and significantly growing our international sales," Hunter added.

In October, MediPharm Labs inked a deal to supply GMP-certified medical cannabis products to German pharmaceutical giant Stada Arzneimittel AG.

Six months later, in April, the company expanded its reach in the German market by signing a two-year supply agreement with the subsidiary of the multi-country medical and recreational cannabis operator IM Cannabis (CSE:IMCC) (NASDAQ:IMCC), which agreed to expand its product offering in Germany in 2021.

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