Canopy Rivers Posts $47M In Cash, CEO 'Optimistic' For 2021

Cannabis venture capital firm Canopy Rivers Inc. RIV CNPOF touted a "strong financial position" with $47 million cash on hand and no debt, according to its latest earnings report.

"Looking back on FY 2020, it is clear that cannabis companies encountered challenging conditions in the capital markets over those 12 months, and the impact of this shows in our financial results for the fiscal year," said Canopy CFO Eddie Lucarelli in a statement.

Here's a breakdown of what the fourth quarter and full-year results revealed:

• Operating income (before equity method investees and fair value changes) hovered around $2.6 million in both the fourth quarter of 2019 and the fourth quarter of 2020
• Yearly, operating income (before equity method investees and fair value changes) increased by 145%, reaching $11.9 million for the twelve months ended March 31, 2020
• The fourth quarter net operating loss (before equity method investees and fair value changes) of $900,000 versus a net loss of approximately $5 million in the corresponding quarter of the last year
• That's a drop of 82%
• Net operating loss of around $7.4 million for the year 2020, compared to the net income of $25.6 million in 2019.
• Operating expenses decreased year-over-year by roughly 54% to $3.5 million in the fourth quarter
• Operating expenses declined from fiscal 2019 to fiscal 2020 by 37%, amounting $19.3 million

"The global economic uncertainty brought on by COVID-19 capped off a volatile and challenging year for the cannabis sector," stated Canopy's President and CEO Narbé Alexandrian. "Reflecting on the past year, there were several significant achievements that make me optimistic for the fiscal year 2021."

A Look Back

In August, the Canopy received Toronto Stock Exchange's approval to list its Class A subordinated voting shares on the TSH.

Some of the milestones the company's portfolio companies achieved over the past year include a $10 million investment in TerrAscend; receiving of Health Canada's license amendment, which allowed PharmHouse to boost its 1.3 million square feet greenhouse operations; and ZeaKal's trials of its PhotoSeed technology.

ZeaKal is a Californian plant genetic innovator in which Canopy invested $10 million a year ago.

In January, BioLumic, another Canopy's portfolio company, obtained the New Zealand Ministry of Health's permit to use ultraviolet light technology in medical cannabis farming.

Meanwhile, the company decided to increase its footprint in the cannabis edibles market, by investing $2 million in Dynaleo Inc., a Canadian cannabis edibles manufacturer, according to the last month's announcement.