ASX-listed Ecofibre (ASX: EOF) has painted a rosier picture for its Ananda Professional brand.
Ananda Professional produces a variety of cannabidiol (CBD) products that are available at more than 4,000 independent pharmacies across the USA.
After heading towards the $1 million mark in revenue in September last year, things started looking shaky for Ananda Professional, with sales dropping for the next couple of months down to below $400,000 in November. December and January were a little brighter before another drop in February. But after February, the climb back up has been significant and steady, with the company seeing its highest revenues since September 2020 in May this year.
“This result reflects a combination of trading conditions improving in our core independent pharmacy channel, ongoing investment in new products and direct engagement to support our pharmacy partners,” said Ecofibre CEO Eric Wang.
The improved trading conditions include many of Ananda Professional’s pharmacy partners beginning to return to normal operations after the commercial carnage wreaked by COVID-19. Mr. Wang also pointed to sales of the new Ananda Professional Chewable products and Women’s Health range had been encouraging. Last month Ananda Professional also launched its new direct-to-consumer ecommerce portal.
While expecting monthly results to continue to fluctuate for Ananda Professional, Mr. Wang is confident in an ongoing recovery.
As well as Ananda Professional, Ecofibre has three other businesses. One is Ananda Food, which produces food-grade hemp seed oil, protein and seeds from industrial hemp crops grown in Australia’s island state of Tasmania. Another is Ananda Hemp, which processes hemp materials into nutraceutical products.
The other is Hemp Black, which create materials from sources such as hemp designed to have minimal impacts on people and the planet. While the COVID-19 situation may have had an overall negative impact on EcoFibre, Hemp Black saw some initial brisk trade with the release of its face masks made with hemp (sort of); selling 67,000 units last May and generating revenue of AUD $1.2 million.
Ecofibre’s non-executive chairman is Barry Lambert, who has been a huge supporter of medicinal cannabis research, both in Australia and overseas.
