Ayr Wellness Reports Second Quarter 2022 Results

MIAMI – Ayr Wellness Inc. (CSE: AYR.A, OTCQX: AYRWF), a U.S. multi-state cannabis operator (“MSO”), is reporting financial results for the three months ended June 30, 2022. Unless otherwise noted, all results are presented in U.S. dollars.

Jonathan Sandelman, Founder and CEO of Ayr, said, “Over the past few months, we have achieved many of the key transformational milestones to operationalize Ayr’s core footprint, and we are now moving to optimize this footprint for substantial growth. We’re doing this in the face of macro headwinds from the broader economy, but it’s never been clearer that cannabis is a consumer staple that is here to stay.”

“Q2 2022 results were in line with our expectations, and we now look ahead to the second half of 2022. Our second half growth will be slower than previously expected, but the earnings power of the business remains outstanding. We continue to make investments in people and processes, while remaining prudent through these turbulent economic times. With our core operating footprint in place, the vast majority of our capex behind us, and a strong, $117 million cash position on our balance sheet, we believe that we are well-placed to weather this economic environment and emerge stronger on the other side.”

Second Quarter Financial Highlights ($ in millions, excl. margin items)

¹Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted Gross Profit and Adjusted EBITDA Margin are non-GAAP measures, and accordingly are not standardized measures and may not be comparable to similar measures used by other companies. See Definition and Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Measures below. For a reconciliation of Operating Loss to Adjusted EBITDA as well as Gross Profit to Adjusted Gross Profit, see the reconciliation table appended to this release.

Second Quarter and Recent Highlights

• Northeast
  • Began serving adult-use customers at three New Jersey dispensaries in Woodbridge, Union and Eatontown.
  • Completed the first harvest from second New Jersey cultivation facility in August.
  • Opened first adult-use dispensaries, one in Boston’s Back Bay and one in Watertown, in July.
  • Received state regulatory approval to convert Somerville, Massachusetts dispensary to adult use, pending local approvals.
  • Received state regulatory approval to begin phased production at new cultivation expansion in Massachusetts.
  • Launched the award-winning flower brand, LIT, for wholesale as well as retail purchase in four Ayr Greater Boston locations.
  • Announced the opening of ninth affiliated medical dispensary in Pennsylvania, AYR Indiana, in July.
• Southwest
  • Completed the first sale from new 80,000 square foot cultivation facility in Phoenix, Arizona.
  • Launched Levia water-soluble tinctures in Arizona and Nevada, representing the first expansion of Levia outside of Massachusetts, in August.
  • Ayr’s Kynd flower continues to be the #1 selling flower brand in Nevada.
• Florida
  • Opened three new dispensaries during the second quarter and an additional two stores in July and August, bringing Ayr’s total footprint to 50 dispensaries across the state.ⁱ
  • Biomass yields up 125% during the first half of 2022 when compared to the same period of 2021.
  • 37 unique strains being grown at Gainesville cultivation campus, with each store averaging ~16 strains available.

M&A Highlights

• Closed acquisition of Herbal Remedies Dispensaries, LLC, an operator of two licensed retail dispensaries in Quincy, Illinois on May 25, 2022.

Financing and Capital Structure

• Ended the quarter with a cash balance of $116.7 million.
• Closed $81.5 million of real estate financing transactions during the quarter, bringing the YTD total to $108 million with an annualized blended cost of capital of 7.8%.
• Approximately 68.9 million fully diluted shares outstanding based on a treasury method calculation, as of June 30, 2022.ⁱⁱ
• Deployed $17.9 million of capital expenditures in Q2.

Outlook

Based on the results to date coupled with an uncertain macroeconomic backdrop, Ayr is updating its previously issued guidance regarding 2022 financial results.

The Company expects Revenue, Adjusted EBITDA and Operating Income to grow approximately 10% sequentially from Q2 2022 to Q3 2022, and an acceleration in the pace of sequential growth in Q4 2022.

The Company’s expectations for future results are based on the assumptions and risks detailed in its MD&A for the period ended June 30, 2022 as filed on SEDAR.

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ⁱ Pending the completed re-location of Ayr’s Dania Beach store.
ⁱⁱ Includes pending M&A and excludes Ayr granted but unvested service-based LTIP shares totaling 6.4 million.

Financial Statements

Certain financial information reported in this news release is extracted from Ayr’s Unaudited Interim Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements and MD&A for the three and six months ended June 30, 2022 and 2021. Ayr files its financial statements and MD&A on SEDAR and with the SEC. All financial information contained in this news release is qualified in its entirety by reference to such financial statements and MD&A.

Definition and Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Measures

The Company reports certain non-GAAP measures that are used to evaluate the performance of its businesses and the performance of their respective segments, as well as to manage their capital structures. As non-GAAP measures generally do not have a standardized meaning, they may not be comparable to similar measures presented by other issuers. Securities regulators require such measures to be clearly defined and reconciled with their most comparable GAAP measures.

Rather, these are provided as additional information to complement those GAAP measures by providing further understanding of the results of the operations of the Company from management’s perspective. Accordingly, these measures should not be considered in isolation, nor as a substitute for analysis of the Company’s financial information reported under GAAP. Non-GAAP measures used to analyze the performance of the Company’s businesses include “Adjusted EBITDA” and “Adjusted Gross Profit.”

The Company believes that these non-GAAP financial measures provide meaningful supplemental information regarding the Company’s performances and may be useful to investors because they allow for greater transparency with respect to key metrics used by management in its financial and operational decision-making. These financial measures are intended to provide investors with supplemental measures of the Company’s operating performances and thus highlight trends in the Company’s core businesses that may not otherwise be apparent when solely relying on the GAAP measures.

Adjusted EBITDA

“Adjusted EBITDA” represents loss from operations, as reported under GAAP, before interest and tax, adjusted to exclude non-core costs, other non-cash items, including depreciation and amortization, and further adjusted to remove non-cash stock-based compensation, the accounting for the incremental costs to acquire cannabis inventory in a business combination, acquisition related costs, start-up costs and the gain on sale of assets.

Adjusted Gross Profit

“Adjusted Gross Profit” represents gross profit, as reported, adjusted to exclude the accounting for the incremental costs to acquire cannabis inventory in a business combination, interest, depreciation and amortization, and start-up costs.

A reconciliation of how Ayr calculates Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted Gross Profit is provided in the tables appended below. Additional reconciliations of Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted Gross Profit and other disclosures concerning non-GAAP measures are provided in our MD&A for the three and six months ended June 30, 2022 and 2021.

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain information contained in this news release may be forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Forward-looking statements are often, but not always, identified by the use of words such as “target”, “expect”, “anticipate”, “believe”, “foresee”, “could”, “would”, “estimate”, “goal”, “outlook”, “intend”, “plan”, “seek”, “will”, “may”, “tracking”, “pacing” and “should” and similar expressions or words suggesting future outcomes. This news release includes forward-looking information and statements pertaining to, among other things, Ayr’s future growth plans. Numerous risks and uncertainties could cause the actual events and results to differ materially from the estimates, beliefs and assumptions expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to: anticipated strategic, operational and competitive benefits may not be realized; events or series of events, including in connection with COVID-19, may cause business interruptions; required regulatory approvals may not be obtained in a timely manner or at all; inflationary pressures may increase input costs; supply chain issues may hamper production and distribution; and Ayr may not be able to raise additional debt or equity capital if required. Among other things, Ayr has assumed that its businesses will operate as anticipated and that all required regulatory approvals will be obtained on satisfactory terms and within expected time frames.

Forward-looking estimates and assumptions involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially. While Ayr believes there is a reasonable basis for these assumptions, such estimates may not be met. These estimates represent forward-looking information. Actual results may vary and differ materially from the estimates.

Assumptions and Risks

Forward-looking information in this release is subject to the assumptions and risks as described in our MD&A for the three and six months ended June 30, 2022.

(This information is primarily sourced from Ayr Wellness Inc.  Highly Capitalized has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this news release. Read our Disclaimer here).