The Althea Group Holdings Ltd (ASX: AGH) share price is surging higher today following the release of its first-half results. During late morning trade, the cannabis company's shares are up 8.4% to an intraday high of 57.5 cents.
At the time of writing, the Althea share price has retreated slightly and is sitting at 56 cents.
Let's take a closer look and see Althea managed during the first-half of the 2021 financial year.
How did Althea perform in the first-half?
The Althea share price is on the move after investors appear to be pleased with the company's latest result.
According to its release, Althea delivered a robust performance underpinned by business growth across Europe and North America.
For the six months ending 31 December 2020, Althea reported total revenue of $5,098,000. This represented an increase of 175.3% on the prior corresponding period (pcp). The strong sales came from the company's growing market share of the Australia and United Kingdom medicinal cannabis sector.
Althea revealed a loss from ordinary activities after providing income tax of $8,274,000. This reflected a fall of 0.9% over the comparable period. While the bulk of the expenses was attributed to employee costs ($5,250,000), the company also made a foreign exchange loss of $1,529,000.
At the end of the calendar year, Althea had a cash balance of $8,644,000. A significant drop from the $22,361,000 recorded in the prior year.
Althea segment overview
Australia
Althea stated that in its biggest market, it is continuing to see sales growth of its medicinal cannabis products. This is due to the company developing the Healthcare Professional (HCP) prescribing community through its infield sales team and Althea Concierge platform.
As a result of the strategy, HCP and patient numbers soared in the first half. Althea recorded 12,273 patients at the end of 2020, tripling the figure from the year before. In addition, 834 HCP prescribed the company's products to patients, doubling the amount achieved in the prior corresponding period (pcp).
United Kingdom
Identified as an emerging market, Althea revealed that sales jumped to $209,706, a 90% jump from November to December 2020. The positive momentum was driven by the company's infield sales team efforts to educate and onboard additional prescribing specialists.
Canada
Across the Atlantic, Althea's wholly-owned subsidiary, Peak Processing Solutions has been making tailwinds within the Canadian market. Following the Standard Processing Licence received in September 2020, the company signed contracts worth CAD$4.65 million to supply cannabis products. Executed in November last year, the deals will run for a period of 12 months.
A further agreement was also entered in December with The Tinley Beverage Company for manufacturing and distributing three cannabis-infused beverages. This will be targeted toward the adult-use cannabis market in Canada.
Germany
Althea has commenced operations following the approval of the necessary sale and distribution licences from Germany's health regulator (BfArM). So far, the company has shipped an initial order of 2,000 units valued at around $1 million to a local partner, Nimbus Health GmbH.
Althea will adopt the same strategy used in other markets, incorporating its infield sales team with Althea Concierge. The final stages of planning is currently underway.
Words from the Althea CEO
Althea CEO Joshua Fegan touched on the company's first-half result, saying:
I am very proud of our Australian and UK teams for producing record revenue in the second half of 2020. Generating market leading sales at the same time as scaling the business for growth throughout Europe and North America, requires a solid team of qualified and dedicated people. The Company has recruited well across all strategic business units and remains on track to deliver on its corporate objectives.
The Althea share price has accelerated to more than 80% over the last 12 months.
