Columbia Care reports $300 million net loss for Q4 2022 and strategic restructuring efforts

LOS ANGELES– Columbia Care Inc. recently reported its financial results for the fourth quarter and full year ended Dec. 31, 2022, revealing a net loss of $300 million for the quarter, compared to a net loss of $53 million for the same quarter last year. However, the company’s full-year sales hit $511 million, an increase from 2021’s sales of $460 million.

Despite a decrease in revenue for Q4 2022, which was $126 million compared to Q3’s revenue of $132 million, the CEO, Nicholas Vita, noted that the company had achieved record financial results in 2022. He attributed this to building scale and optimizing their portfolio of assets within their strategically diverse retail footprint, which includes new markets such as New Jersey and Virginia.

The company also reviewed its various efforts to exit underperforming businesses, with restructuring initiatives that generated a net $35 million in annualized savings. They exited cultivation operations in six markets and closed four unprofitable retail stores in Colorado and California, while eliminating approximately 25% of corporate positions. Additionally, Columbia Care left several markets and assets that were not accretive to positive cash flow.

Despite exiting many markets, the company strategically opened new stores, including two Cannabist retail locations in Virginia and another two locations in Virginia in Q1 2023, bringing the current active retail location count to 83.

The company exercised its unilateral right to extend the maturity date of its 13% senior secured notes to May 14, 2024, and reported that it generated $5.2 million of positive cash flow from operations in Q4 2022 and exited the year with $48.2 million in cash.

The company did not mention its impending deal with Cresco Labs in its earnings press release. Despite the Q4 net loss, the company remains optimistic about its future, citing ongoing operational and financial reprioritization efforts that will provide a pathway to free cash flow generation in 2023.