SQDC increases profits and revenues in the second quarter

Société québécoise du cannabis (SQDC) reported an 18 per cent increase in second-quarter net profit to $29.4 million. A person enters an SQDC shop in Montreal on Saturday, January 15, 2022. (The Canadian Press/Graham Hughes)

Société québécoise du cannabis (SQDC) reported net income up 18 per cent in the second quarter, to $29.4 million.

The Crown corporation's total sales reached $173.7 million for the period ending September 14, up from $151.7 million a year earlier.

In volume terms, these sales represented some 34,675 kg of cannabis for the quarter, compared with 27,498 kg in the second quarter of the previous year. The average selling price was $5.76 per gram, including all taxes and all cannabis products combined.

In presenting its results in a press release on Thursday, the SQDC said that the growth in sales was due in particular to the end of the labour dispute that had limited activities in 24 branches during the second quarter of 2023-2024 and to the high level of activity during the summer period.

The company also highlighted the opening of two new branches, bringing the total to 100, and the growing demand for concentrate-type products, which resulted in an increase in sales volume per gram equivalent.

SQDC has announced plans to open branches in areas not yet served in the coming months.

Tax revenues generated by its operations in the form of consumption and excise taxes totalled $61.4 million, of which $43.9 million went to the Quebec government and $17.5 million to the federal government.

Including net and comprehensive income, the SQDC paid $90.8 million to the two levels of government, including $73.3 million to the Quebec government, which reinvested these sums in cannabis prevention and research, according to the press release.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Nov. 14, 2024.