Features Production
CannTrust to venture outdoors

During a conference call reporting its financial results for the fourth quarter of 2018, CannTrust CEO Peter Aceto said the company has entered into Letters of Intent to secure some 200 acres of land, through purchase and lease agreements. This move will further enhance the company’s capacity for extraction-based products, Aceto said.

“In combination with our Phase 3 expansion, we estimate our annual production capacity target to be between 200,000kg and 300,000kg,” Aceto said.

CannTrust has reported record revenue of $16.2 million, a 132 per cent increase from the $7-million reported revenue in the fourth quarter of 2017. The company also increased its patient base to 58,000 by the end of 2018, a nearly 60 per cent increase from 37,000 patients in 2017. The company sold 3,407 kg of dried cannabis, increasing more than four times from the 758 kg sold in 2017. Cash costs per gram decreased to $2.94 from $5.16 in the fourth quarter of 2017, the company added.

“We expect the trajectory of revenue growth to continue in 2019 as we bring additional capacity online through our Phase 2 expansion, realize the potential of investments we have made into training and crop yield optimization, implement targeted price increases and distribute our products to more and more consumers,” Aceto said.

CannTrust also plans to become “an early-mover” in vaporization products and plans to forge more partnerships to “bring innovative products to market.”

“The company continues to invest in people, process, technology and marketing, and is developing innovative products for the expected legalization of the edibles market in Canada later in 2019. These products include vape pens, beverages and confectionaries. CannTrust is also making strategic investments into its capacity to prepare for expected increases in demand for its products,” CannTrust said in a statement.