Australian medical cannabis and hemp company ECS Botanics (ASX:ECS) is expecting revenue of $1.5 million for the final calendar quarter of last year; a new record for the company.
The increase in quarter ended December 31 represents a 65% rise on the previous quarter and more than four times the revenue during the same quarter in 2020.
“The upward trajectory was underpinned by the strong, ongoing demand for ECS’ GMP manufactured medicinal cannabis products and sales of hemp products,” says the company.
ECS notes it produced 13,200 units of medical cannabis oil products last quarter and is expecting in excess of 20,000 units this quarter.
Commenting on the revenue increase, Managing Director Alex Keach said:
“We remain very well positioned to further this trajectory, last year we signed a significant number contracts domestically and overseas and it is now pleasing to see them convert into revenue.”
Among the deals was an agreement to supply medicinal cannabis biomass for Sun Pharma and a $5 million deal for the supply of medicinal cannabis resin to Australian firm Cannvalate.
ECS has farms and facilities in Tasmania and Victoria for the cultivation, processing, and manufacturing of medicinal cannabis and hemp products. It owns two 35-tonne aerated silos located in Tasmania and has leases for other shed space
to accommodate all of its hemp grain supply. Additionally, ECS has vaults for the storage of medicinal cannabis in Tasmania and Victoria.
In terms of medical cannabis, the company manufactures to EU GMP standards and holds the licences necessary for the cultivation and manufacture for the wholesale extract, final dose and premium dry flower market. However, it also outsources some of its manufacturing and production as it doesn’t have the manufacturing capability for all its food and medicinal cannabis products.
In its investor presentation published in September last year, ECS Botanics claimed to be the largest and lowest cost cultivator of medicinal cannabis and has one of only a handful of GMP certified manufacturing facilities in Australia.
The way cannabis is grown can have a major impact on its carbon footprint. ECS says it focuses on outdoor cultivation, which meets the same medicinal quality standards as indoor or greenhouse grown products, but needs 96x less energy than indoor grows and 54x less energy than greenhouse cultivation.
The company has a 3-year goal of producing 10,000kg of medical cannabis annually.
