Leamington, Ont. greenhouse-grown medical marijuana producer Aphria Inc. doubled its revenue in the most recent quarter as it drove down the per-gram production costs of its cannabis with improved growing techniques and favourable growing conditions.
The company revealed Wednesday that, according to its proprietary definition of cash cost, it had reduced its per-gram production cost 36 per cent to $1.11 per gram in the fourth quarter of 2017 from $1.73 in the third quarter. Using industry competitors’ definition, which does not include indirect labour or quality control costs, Aphria said it reached a per-gram cash cost of $0.79, versus $1.42 a quarter earlier.
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“I would call it a stellar quarter,” said Noel Atkinson, a research analyst and vice-president of Clarus Securities Inc. who covers the company. He called the lowered production costs “basically an industry record,” which “reflects the economies of scale that can be achieved when you’re using greenhouses.”
