Cantourage
Berlin-based medical cannabis company Cantourage saw sales exceed its own projections in 2024, with sales more than doubling on 2023.
During the fourth quarter of 2024, Cantourage reported record-breaking sales of €21.2m representing a 60% increase on the previous quarter.
This included sales of €8.5m in December alone, up from a previous high of €7.2m a months earlier, again beating previous records.
For the full year, this translated to sales of €51.4m, meaning Q4 accounted for close to half of its entire annual revenue.
This represented a 118% increase on 2023, and exceeded the company’s recently raised sales forecasts of €46m to €50m.
It attributed the bulk of this growth to ‘positive business development’, specifically the expansion of its own processing capacities to meet increasing demand in the German and UK markets.
“2024 was a very eventful year for cannabis in Germany. Over the course of the year, it became clear that the partial legalisation in April is giving more and more people access to medical cannabis – and brings enormous economic potential for the entire industry”, CEO Philip Schetter said.
“Despite all the macroeconomic challenges, we have now exceeded the €50 million mark in sales just five and a half years after our company was founded. We have now more than increased our sales revenue of around €500,000 from 2020, when we launched our first product, by a factor of one hundred.”
Looking ahead, the company says it has already launched ‘new growth drivers for 2024’, including the ‘very successful’ launch into the polish market, and the launch of its telemedicine platform telecan.de.
“Overall, we will attach great importance to continuously increasing our efficiency, making even better use of economies of scale, and significantly increasing our profitability again.”
High Tide
Canadian-listed cannabis operator High Tide has become the latest North American company to venture into the thriving German market.
This week, it announced the acquisition of a 51% stake in Purecan GmbH, a German pharmaceutical wholesaler with established supply chains throughout the country and a license to import medical cannabis.
The €4.8 million acquisition deal implies an enterprise valuation of €9.5 million, calculated as three times Purecan’s annualised adjusted EBITDA for the six months ending December 31, 2024.
Furthermore, High Tide will be given the option to purchase the remaining 49% within the next five years at a valuation based on three times Purecan’s trailing 12-month adjusted EBITDA.
The payment for the initial 51% stake will be divided into three components: €2.4 million will be paid in High Tide common shares, €1.2 million in cash, and €1.2 million via a promissory note.
As such, the ‘arms length’ deal will see High Tide issue 792,126 new shares, requiring approval from the TSX Venture Exchange and other customary closing conditions. High Tide expects to finalise the deal in the coming weeks.
High Tide first dipped its toe into the German market in 2023, when it signed a deal with Germany’s Sanity Group.
The non-binding letter of intent was designed to lay the groundwork for supply chain ‘synergies’ ahead of what was expected to be full adult-use legalisation.
The deal will add to the growing dominance of Canadian imports across Germany and Europe more widely.
According to the latest figures from BfArM, total imports into Germany were 39.8 tonnes for the first nine months of the 2024, a 21.4% increase compared to the whole year of 2023. Canada remains the largest exporter to Germany by some margin and saw exports rise 72% (8098 kg) in the third quarter alone.
For the first three quarters of 2024, Canada had exported 19201 kg in 2024, already surpassing 2023’s total of 16895 kg, which itself was double the volume of 2022.
SEED Innovations
In a ‘New Year Statement’ from its CEO, the AIM-listed investment firm, SEED’s CEO Ed McDermott informed investors that a number of ‘promising’ investments across a range of sectors are in the works for the year ahead.
Citing a ‘difficult 2024’, the company says it will continue into 2025 with an ‘industry-agnostic trading strategy’, but expects the coming year to be ‘more dynamic as we continue to actively manage our portfolio’.
“There continues to be a substantial capital deficit to meet the needs of growth companies globally, which has caused innovation to take a step back in recent years. However, I see the next 2-3 years as an opportune time to accelerate the growth of carefully selected ventures with the potential to scale into meaningful exits, ideally within 24 months of investment,” McDermott continued.
Despite the challenges raising capital, a number of its cannabis investments made positive progress over the last year.
Little Green Pharma achieved record-breaking half-year performance and announced the acquisition of HH (Australia) Pty Ltd, aligning with its strategy to acquire sustainable medicinal cannabis businesses.
Meanwhile, medical cannabis firm Avextra completed a €3.3 million fundraise early in 2024, exceeding SEED’s carrying value.
With a market capitalisation of £3.18 million, cash reserves of £3.8 million, and a net asset value of £10.6 million as of late 2024, SEED emphasises that it is trading below its intrinsic value. McDermott remains confident in the company’s financial position and investment pipeline, projecting a year of significant progress in 2025.