Cannabis Professional’s daily roundup of industry news. View archive here.
Delta 9 will have its final day on the TSX Venture Exchange Friday before graduating to the big show after Labour Day, the first five locations authorized to sell recreational cannabis in Illinois starting in 2020 have been announced and Statistics Canada says active cannabis cultivation space across the country more than doubled between late March and the end of June.
– Jameson Berkow
Delta 9 to begin trading on TSX after Labour Day
Once kids are officially back in school next week, shares of Delta 9 Cannabis will be trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
The Winnipeg-based company, vertically integrated as both a cultivator and retailer, will trade under the ticker “DN” on Canada’s senior exchange. Delta 9 has been trading on the TSX Venture Exchange since 2016 and has nearly tripled in value since its public debut. However, the shares have lost more than half their value over the past year, falling from $1.79 a piece in late August of 2018 to $0.80 as of Thursday’s close.
The company reported $14.5-million in operating revenues for its second quarter results earlier this week, which compares to roughly $1-million in revenues during the same period in 2018. However, Delta 9 also posted a Q2 net loss that was five times larger on a year over year basis, losing $10.6-million during the three-month period in 2019 compared to a $2.2-million net loss during the same time one year earlier.
In addition to its common shares, Delta 9 will also list share purchase warrants under the tickers DN.WT, DN.WT.A and DN.DB depending on the date of expiry.
– Jameson Berkow
Illinois approves first five recreational cannabis stores
The Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation announced late Thursday where residents of the state can legally acquire cannabis for recreational purposes.
Starting Jan. 1, 2020, existing medicinal cannabis dispensaries in Mundelein, Joliet, Naperville, Canton and Effingham will be allowed to sell their products to anyone aged 21 and over. The “same site” regime being pursued by the state government will give priority to locations already providing medical cannabis to also sell recreationally.
“In addition to opening adult use dispensaries at the same site of their medical cannabis dispensaries, existing medical cannabis dispensaries are permitted under the law to open a second site for adult use sales at a different location,” the announcement said.
“The Department anticipates receiving additional applications for early approval adult use licenses as municipalities adopt relevant zoning ordinances regarding adult use cannabis.”
Once the law takes effect, Illinois will officially become the first jurisdiction in the United States to legalize recreational cannabis sales through legislative action, as opposed to a voter referendum. Ten other states and the District of Columbia have also legalized recreational cannabis through state-wide votes, with the sole exception being Vermont, which never established a sales regime.
- Jameson Berkow
Licenced cannabis cultivation space more than doubled in Q2: StatsCan
The latest data published by Statistics Canada on Thursday shows growing cannabis inventories amid dramatic growth in total licenced cultivation spaces.
Total inventory of packaged and labelled (i.e. ready to sell) dried cannabis held by cultivators, processors, distributors and retailers increased 59 per cent from 30,746 kilograms at the end of March to 48,918 kg by June 30, the data said. Cannabis oil inventories increased by a similar proportion, growing 48 per cent from 66,445 litres in late March to 98,123 litres by the end of June.
Active cultivation space more than doubled over the three-month period as well, going from 698,224 square metres in March 2019 to 1,551,440 by the end of June.
- Jameson Berkow