N Namaste Technologies Inc

Namaste Technologies Inc. (“Namaste” or the “Company”) (TSXV: N) (FRANKFURT: M5BQ) (OTCMKTS: NXTTF) a marketplace platform for cannabis and wellness products, today reported its financial results for the first quarter ended February 28, 2021 (“Q1 2021”) with references made to financial results for the first quarter ended February 29, 2020 (“Q1 2020”). All financial figures are in Canadian dollars unless otherwise indicated.

Q1 2021 Highlights:

• Net cash used in operating activities decreased by $7.5 million to $2.5 million in Q1 2021 vs. Q1 2020, reflecting improved management of our short term assets.
• Gross revenue for Q1 2021 was $6.15 million ($5.46 million Q1 2020), representing an increase of 13% while operating expenses decreased by 10.9% over the same period.
• Net revenue for Q1 2021 was $5.5 million ($5.3 million in Q1 2020).
• Cannabis revenue increased by 113% vs the same quarter last year, and maintained its strong position at 47% of total net revenues, the second highest percentage for cannabis revenue out of total net revenue achieved in the last four quarters.
• Inventories decreased by 33% to $5.9 million in Q1 2021 ($8.8 million in Q1 2020) with increased revenues, demonstrating improved inventory management practices implemented as a key initiative to reduce slow moving inventory in 2020.
• Accounts receivables decreased 22% in Q1 2021 vs. Q1 2020 despite an increase in sales, illustrating our ability to convert short term assets into cash much more efficiently.
• The Company’s working capital position remains strong at $31 million as at February 28, 2021 bolstered by the closing of a bought deal financing of $23 million (approximately $21 million net of all fees, costs and expenses).

Recent Corporate Highlights:

• Announced the addition of leading licensed producers to the CannMart.com platform including: Auxly Cannabis Group, Hexo Corp and The Green Organic Dutchman Holdings (TGOD).
• Announced that CannMart Inc., the Company’s wholly-owned subsidiary, has expanded its product offering to both our provincial customers who retain exclusive rights to sell to recreational consumers and to our own medical customers across Canada via CannMart.com, by entering into a number of supply agreements including with CannTx Life Sciences Inc., Rilaxe Canna Inc. and Safari Flower Co.
• Launched CannMart.com into the USA offering American resident hemp derived CBD and smoking accessories.
• Received a standard processing licence from Health Canada for CannMart Labs Inc. (“Labs”), the Company’s wholly owned subsidiary with its state-of-the-art BHO extraction facility.
• Announced the Company’s evolution into a pre-eminent wellness company, connecting consumers to their wellness needs of tomorrow, with planned expansion into the nutraceuticals market in fiscal year 2021.
• Completed the acquisition of 49% interest in Labs to take the Company to 100% ownership.

“We continue to transform CannMart.com which saw sales increase in Q1 2021 compared to the prior year as we see an increased number of vendors looking to sell their cannabis and accessories with us,” said Meni Morim, CEO of Namaste. “While our marketplace platform is demonstrating strong growth, the impact of Covid-19 lockdowns across Canada continues to be felt by the cannabis industry. However, we believe the marketplace and the Company remains well-positioned to experience a robust increase in our top-line as the market improves. Going forward, we are excited about the strategic opportunities for growth as we launch “Roilty”, our in-house branded cannabis consumer products, in Canada, and launch the first nutraceutical products in fiscal 2021 in North America and anticipate a launch in the UK and Europe thereafter.”

Mr. Morim further stated: “Over the past four quarters, one of our goals was to “do more with less” and substantially reduce our burn. I am thrilled to say that we have succeeded in bringing down our operating expenses substantially in the past quarter. One of our goals over the next few quarters is to make the necessary adjustments to our product mix so we can continue the work towards improving our gross margins. Labs’s upcoming commercial production and our soon to be launched nutraceuticals division are two such strategies we will be deploying. In addition, we have introduced operating procedures setting goals of 40-day inventory turns which we believe will further contribute to improved margins. We continue to focus on our goal to be cash flow positive. With our recent financing, the Company is in a strong financial position as Namaste continues its evolution to be the world’s foremost personalized wellness marketplace.”

For further details, the complete Financial Statements for the first quarter ended February 28, 2021 and the related Management’s Discussion & Analysis can be accessed on the Company’s SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com.

Labs Update:

Labs has completed phase one of its work following receipt of Health Canada’s standard processing licence, of installation and balancing of HVAC and GMP equipment. Labs is entering Phase two of commissioning activity, with the Company now expecting Labs products to go to market by the third fiscal quarter 2021.

Namaste Virtual Town Hall:

The Company would like to invite shareholders and guests to participate in attending a virtual town hall to hear a presentation on the progress made by the Company.  

• Thursday, May 6, 2021
• 12:00 p.m. EST
• Presentation by Meni Morim followed by Q&A
• All Shareholders are invited to submit their questions by May 3rd to: ir@namastetechnologies.com. Our CEO, Meni Morim, will answer submitted investors questions during the town hall event.
• Shareholders can access the event using the following link: http://bofc.me/may6townhall

NON IFRS FINANCIAL MEASURES

Management evaluates the Company’s performance using a variety of measures, including “Net loss before income tax, depreciation and amortization” and “Adjusted EBITDA”. The non-IFRS measures discussed below should not be considered as an alternative to or to be more meaningful than revenue or net loss. These measures do not have a standardized meaning prescribed by IFRS and therefore they may not be comparable to similarly titled measures presented by other publicly traded companies and should not be construed as an alternative to other financial measures determined in accordance with IFRS.

The Company believes these non-IFRS financial measures provide useful information to both management and investors in measuring the financial performance and financial condition of the Company.

Management uses these and other non-IFRS financial measures to exclude the impact of certain expenses and income that must be recognized under IFRS when analyzing consolidated underlying operating performance, as the excluded items are not necessarily reflective of the Company’s underlying operating performance and make comparisons of underlying financial performance between periods difficult. From time to time, the Company may exclude additional items if it believes doing so would result in a more effective analysis of underlying operating performance. The exclusion of certain items does not imply that they are non-recurring.

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/f090bdde-878d-4d4b-9403-9206df82fc9b

(i) Current and deferred income taxes, depreciation and amortization, and share-based compensation were excluded from the Adjusted EBITDA calculation as they do not represent cash expenditures.

(ii) Other income consisting of gain on disposal of subsidiary, interest income, realized gain on disposition of AFS investments, unrealized gain on derivatives and other miscellaneous non-recurring income were excluded from Adjusted EBITDA calculation.

(iii) Non-recurring costs related to restructuring and legacy issues were excluded from Adjusted EBITDA calculation.

(iv) Impairment loss relating to goodwill, customer list, domains and brand names were excluded from Adjusted EBITDA calculation.

(v) Impairment loss relating to receivable is a provision for expected credit loss to an associate and was excluded from Adjusted EBITDA calculation.

(vi) Share of associates loss, net of tax, is excluded due to lack of control.

About Namaste Technologies Inc.

Headquartered in Toronto, Canada, Namaste Technologies is a marketplace platform for cannabis and wellness products. At CannMart.com, the Company provides Canadian medical customers with a diverse selection of hand-picked products from a multitude of federally licensed cultivators and US customers with access to hemp-derived CBD and smoking accessories. The Company also distributes licensed and in-house branded cannabis and cannabis derived products in Canada through a number of provincial government control boards and retailing bodies and facilitates licensed cannabis retailer sales online in Saskatchewan. Namaste’s global technology and continuous innovation address local needs in a burgeoning cannabis industry requiring smart solutions.

Information on the Company and its many products can be accessed through the links below:

NamasteTechnologies.com

NamasteMD.com

Cannmart.com

For more information please contact:Namaste Technologies Inc.Meni Morim, CEOEdward Miller, VP Investor RelationsPh: 647-362-0390Email: ir@namastetechnologies.com 

Source: Namaste Technologies Inc

FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION – This news release contains “forward-looking information” within the meaning of applicable securities laws. All statements contained herein that are not historical in nature contain forward-looking information. Forward-looking information can be identified by words or phrases such as “may”, “expect”, “likely”, “should”, “would”, “plan”, “anticipate”, “intend”, “potential”, “proposed”, “estimate”, “believe” or the negative of these terms, or other similar words, expressions and grammatical variations thereof, or statements that certain events or conditions “may” or “will” happen.

The forward-looking information contained herein, including, without limitation, statements related to the Company’s expectations relating to increasing top line revenue, its intended adjustment to its product mix, the Company’s expected launch of new products and the creation of its new nutraceutical division, the anticipated commercial production at Labs, the Company’s continued focus on improving margins toward its goal to be cash flow positive , and its continued intent on building the world’s foremost personalized wellness marketplace are made as of the date of this press release and is based on assumptions management believed to be reasonable at the time such statements were made, including, without limitation, Namaste’s ability to maintain momentum of expanding its business, its ability to broaden its total addressable market and to evolve into a recognized wellness company, the Company’s expectation that the nutraceutical and wellness market and potentially the market for psychedelics will develop as currently anticipated, the nutraceutical market will continue to be a multi-billion dollar high-margin market, the introduction of new products and brands will generate additional revenue, the ability of the Company to turn inventory as anticipated, the impact and duration of covid-19 lockdowns on the business of the Company diminishing in the future, as well as other considerations that are believed to be appropriate in the circumstances. While we consider these assumptions to be reasonable based on information currently available to management, there is no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. By its nature, forward-looking information is subject to inherent risks and uncertainties that may be general or specific and which give rise to the possibility that expectations, forecasts, predictions, projections or conclusions will not prove to be accurate, that assumptions may not be correct and that objectives, strategic goals and priorities will not be achieved. A variety of factors, including known and unknown risks, many of which are beyond our control, could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking information in this press release. Such factors include, without limitation: the inability of the Company to develop its business as anticipated and to increase revenues and/or its profitable margin on such revenues, unanticipated changes to current regulations that would adversely impact the Company’s business and proposed business and other regulatory risks, risks relating to the Company’s ability to execute its business strategy and the benefits realizable therefrom and risks specifically related to the Company’s operations. Additional risk factors can also be found in the Company’s current MD&A and annual information form, both of which have been filed under the Company’s SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com. Readers are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking information. The Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable law. Forward-looking statements contained in this news release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release or has in any way approved or disapproved of the contents of this press release.