ASX’s only profitable pot stock Vitura says its well positioned for further growth despite 10pc share price fall

Medicinal cannabis marketplace Vitura Health has backed up its maiden dividend with another 1c a share payout but investors were quick to dump the stock.

Rodney Cocks, chief executive of Vitura Health – the only profitable pot stock on the ASX – says the company has not run out of puff, despite its share price slumping more than 10 per cent in a single day.

The company, formerly known as Cronos, operates a marketplace and has been dubbed the ‘Amazon of medicinal cannabis’.

On Wednesday, the company backed up last year’s maiden 1c dividend with another 1c investor payout.

Its revenue soared 75.2 per cent to $117.34m, while its net profit surged 128.3 per cent to $13.8m.

But its gross margin fell 2.5 per cent to 33.7 per cent. Mr Cocks attributed the decrease to the mix of products sold on its CanView platform.

He said the majority of products sold on the platform are now third-party brands, which typically have lower gross margins.

“Importantly, however, notwithstanding this decline, gross profit from these sales increased during the year under review by $15.37m, or 65 per cent, as compared to the prior year,” Mr Cocks said.

“Pleasingly, the modest margin compression has been more than offset by operating expense efficiencies below the gross profit line, with operating expenses as a percentage of gross revenue falling during the year from 24 to 18 per cent. As a result, the net profit before tax margin of 17 per cent was a material improvement from less than 15 per cent in the prior year.”

But the company’s shares dived 10.3 per cent to 39c on Wednesday, taking total losses in the calendar year to date to 35 per cent.

The company also lost $81,267 from its Cortexa joint venture, which it established with Canadian firm PharmAla Biotech. Cortexa aims to become Australia’s lead supplier of psychedelics for research and therapeutic research. It will allow the company to stock MDMA and psilocybin – commonly known as ecstasy and magic mushrooms – to treat post-traumatic stress disorder and treatment-resistant depression.

Mr Cocks said the company was “well positioned for further growth in FY2024” and was “focused on leveraging Vitura’s expanded team of medical science liaisons to onboard more prescribers, and therefore, patients, across Australia implementing a data driven engagement strategy”.

“With pharmacies at a critical mass, the clear focus is more prescribers and patients,” Mr Cocks said.

He also flagged more growth via mergers and acquisitions, if “shareholder value accretive and synergies exist”.

The company will pay its dividend on September 28.

Originally published as ASX’s only profitable pot stock Vitura says its well positioned for further growth despite 10pc share price fall