CV Sciences earnings rise, but CEO says CBD seizures are limiting growth

CBD giant CV Sciences posted $10.2 million in profit last year, a big improvement from 2017, when the company lost roughly $4.9 million, according to the firm’s year-end fiscal report.

The San Diego company, which produces Plus CBD Oil products, cited distribution growth in natural-product retail locations for its improved performance.

CV Sciences said its fourth-quarter sales in 2018 were $14.2 million, nearly twice what it recorded in the same period in 2017, when sales were $7.2 million.

The company trades on over-the-counter markets as CVSI.

Other highlights from CV Sciences’ fiscal report:

• The company spent more on research last year – almost $22 million – up from $16 million in 2017. CV Sciences is developing pharmaceutical-grade therapies using synthetic CBD, including a drug that would combine synthetic cannabidiol and nicotine for use as a smoking cessation aid.
• CEO Joseph Dowling told investors the company isn’t worried that Dr. Scott Gottlieb’s resignation as the head of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration will slow work reviewing CBD regulations. “Any successor … will likely carry on with moving forward with a regulatory framework for CBD.”
• Sporadic CBD product seizures are causing “disruption for the industry,” Dowling conceded. He attributed the problem to patchwork state-level CBD oversight, predicting it would be a “short-term issue” resolved in coming months by the FDA.
• The company, which applied to the Nasdaq last summer in an effort to tap a wider pool of investors, hasn’t received an answer from the exchange. The Nasdaq said listing decisions are usually made in a matter of weeks; Dowling said his company has answered the exchange’s questions and is uncertain why the uplisting is taking so long.