Troubled Canadian cannabis company CannTrust Holdings Inc. said Monday it has received a report from Health Canada informing it that its manufacturing facility in Vaughan, Ontario, is noncompliant with certain regulations, sending its battered stock down 26% to weigh heavily on the overall sector.
The company
CTST, -25.97%
,
TRST, -25.65%
which is already in trouble with the regulator over unlicensed growing at a facility in Pelham, Ontario, said Health Canada found the breaches during a July 10 to 16 inspection.
The regulator found that the Vaughan facility was using rooms converted from operational areas to storage areas since June 2018 without permission; it had constructed two new areas without prior approval, one of which was used to store cannabis; had inadequate security controls at the facility; had inadequate quality assurance investigations and controls; was using standard operating procedures that did not meet requirements under regulations; and was not retaining documents or information in a manner that would allow the regulator to complete its audit in a timely manner.
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“As previously announced, the company implemented a voluntary hold on the sale and shipment of all cannabis products while Health Canada reviewed its Vaughan, Ontario manufacturing facility,” the company said in a statement. “CannTrust continues to work closely with Health Canada and will provide further details of the hold and other developments as they become available.”
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Korey Bauer, portfolio manager of the Cannabis Growth mutual fund
CANNX, -1.19%
launched by Foothill Capital Management, said the news is just the latest blow for CannTrust.
“It’s unfortunate the company continues to disappoint and the negative news continues to pile on,” he said.
Bauer noted that CannTrust stock had enjoyed a major late-day rally on Friday, due to the rebalancing of an exchange-traded fund and short covering, “which to our knowledge looks to be short lived.”
The stock exploded 40% in the last few minutes of trading, after spending the rest of the session in the red.
The company also said Monday that it has prepaid a C$13.3 million ($10 million) mortgage to Meridian Credit Union, which was secured by the Pelham facility.
Health Canada seized five metric tons of the company’s cannabis from that facility in July, when it discovered the illegal grow rooms. Shares have been hammered since then, after media reports found top management knew about the illegal growing and that some of that cannabis had been exported to Denmark, a breach of Canadian drug laws.
The company fired Chief Executive Peter Aceto for cause, and forced President Eric Paul to resign. On Friday, KPMG said it was withdrawing audits for 2018 and the March quarter because the information in them could no longer be relied on. KPMG made the decision after a special committee formed to investigate the Pelham activity shared newly uncovered information.
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In August, the special committee said it was reviewing options for the company that include a possible sale.
CannTrust shares have fallen 47% in the past three months, while the ETFMG Alternative Harvest ETF
MJ, -1.47%
has fallen 17% and the S&P 500
SPX, -1.17%
has gained 1.3%.
Bauer said earnings from some big names, including Canopy Growth, the market leader, will set the tone for the rest of the week. Earnings are expected from Tilray, Acreage Holdings, CBD leader Charlotte’s Web and vape and accessories seller Greenlane, among others.
Canopy
CGC, -0.15%
WEED, +0.37%
was down 0.9%, Aurora Cannabis
ACB, -1.09%
ACB, -0.81%
was down 1.5%, Tilray
TLRY, -1.13%
was down 1.1%, Cronos was down 1.5%, MedMen
MMNFF, -4.40%
was down 4%. OrganiGram Holdings’s stock
OGI, -3.18%
was down 2.5%. and Aphria
APHA, +2.37%
APHA, +0.59%
was up 1.4%.
Hexo
HEXO, -3.08%
was down 3.3%. Aleafia
ALEAF, -0.34%
ALEF, -0.85%
was down 2%.
The Horizons Marijuana Life Sciences ETF
HMMJ, -0.53%
was down 0.4%. The S&P 500 was down 0.8% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average
DJIA, -1.30%
was down 1%.
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Additional reporting by Max A. Cherney
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