Losses widen for Green Growth Brands, which plans to sell CBD business

Green Growth Brands, an Ohio-based cannabis retailer that owns both marijuana dispensaries and the nation’s largest chain of CBD retail locations in mall kiosks, reported $21.2 million in revenue for the fourth quarter of 2019, up more than 600% from the same period in 2018.

The company also announced plans to sell its CBD business to focus on multistate marijuana retail.

Profit for the quarter was $6.4 million, up from $144,000 in 2018.

But losses widened too. The company reported a loss of $35.9 million, or 15 cents a share. That was up 149% from losses in the fourth quarter 2018, when the company reported a loss of $14.4 million.

CEO Peter Horvath told investors in a statement that “focusing our expertise on the (retail marijuana) segment will yield the highest long-term value for our shareholders and customers.”

Horvath blamed “overhead costs” and unnamed “constraints on liquidity” for needing to shed the CBD part of its business.

The company plans to sell its CBD brands to The BRN Group, retaining a 20% stake. Terms were not disclosed.

Green Growth Brands trades on the Canadian Securities Exchange as GGB and on U.S. over-the-counter markets as GGBXF.

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