Blum Holdings Inc (BLMH)

[Goodbuddy4863]

Terra Tech Corp Reports Financial Results for Year End December 31, 2018:

IRVINE, CA / ACCESSWIRE / March 14, 2019 / Terra Tech Corp. (TRTC) ("Terra Tech" or the "Company"), a vertically integrated cannabis-focused agriculture company, today announced its financial results for the year ended December 31, 2018.

"We faced several headwinds in 2018 that slowed our progress and impacted top line results," commented Derek Peterson, Chief Executive Officer of Terra Tech. "These challenges included navigating the changing regulations in the State of California, which affected sales from our retail businesses in the state, Blüm Oakland and Blüm Santa Ana. Our capacity to generate wholesale revenues in California was also impacted by the regulations which required us to relocate and upgrade our IVXX™ cannabis production to a new facility, effectively halting production in some months."

"While these factors created challenges for us in 2018, they also drove us to make investments in cultivation and manufacturing infrastructure that will enable us to scale production and achieve greater IVXX™ distribution in California in 2019. The upgraded facility in Oakland, California is nearly complete and will support a ramp in production starting in Q2 2019. Other initiatives to drive revenue growth in the state include the anticipated launch of a branded delivery system in California, and our plans to establish a pop-up retail experience," continued Mr. Peterson.

"In conjunction with these growth initiatives, we are also implementing strategies to improve fiscal responsibility and improve our bottom line in 2019. This includes streamlining our operations and headcount to mitigate operational burn and completing an assessment of all our assets to explore opportunities to sell certain lower performing assets and redirect resources into accretive opportunities. This strategy will also allow us to avoid accessing the capital markets for funding in the second half of 2019.

"We believe that our strategy of ensuring cost efficient operations, production of high quality cannabis and stronger corporate governance will strengthen our business and drive meaningful and sustainable shareholder value," concluded Mr. Peterson

Financial Update

For the year ended December 31, 2018, the Company generated revenues of approximately $31.33 million, compared to approximately $35.80 million for the year ended December 31, 2017, a decrease of approximately $4.47 million. The decrease was primarily due to the significant level of taxes that the State of California placed on cannabis sales which depressed the overall legal cannabis market.
Gross margin for the year ended December 31, 2018 was approximately 39.68%, compared to approximately 30.51% for the year ended December 31, 2017.
Selling, general and administrative expenses for the year ended December 31, 2018 were approximately $43.30 million, compared to approximately $30.80 million for the year ended December 31, 2017.
The net loss attributable to Terra Tech for the year ended December 31, 2018 was approximately $(39.8 million) or ($0.56) per share compared to a loss of approximately $(32.7 million) or ($0.71) per share for the year ended December 31, 2017.
The Company had $7.19 million in cash as of December 31, 2018, compared with $5.45 million as of December 31, 2017.
Stockholders' equity for the year ended December 31, 2018 amounted to approximately $94.9 million, an increase of approximately $18.1 million compared to approximately $76.8 million as of December 31, 2017.
The Company had no short-term debt as of December 31, 2018. Long term debt was $18.3 million as of December 31, 2018, compared with $6.6 million as of December 31, 2017.
Business Update

Corporate

Completed a $5 million investment in Hydrofarm Holdings Group, Inc. ("Hydrofarm"), one of the leading independent providers of hydroponics products in North America. Hydrofarm is based in Petaluma, California with ~300 employees globally. It recorded over $250 million in revenues in 2017.
Subsequent to the year ended December 31, 2018, the Company entered into an agreement to acquire the remainder of the interest in the Blüm Reno dispensary and the building where the facility is located from Forever Green NV and Forever Young Investments, LLC, affiliates of Heidi Loeb Hegerich. The transfer of those interests is subject to approval of the Nevada Department of Taxation, which the Company expects to receive in approximately 60-90 days. The Company also entered into a settlement agreement with Forever Green, Forever Young Investments and Ms. Hegerich to settle the lawsuit between them and the Company.
California:

Oakland:
The Company's Blüm, Oakland dispensary continued to focus on the adult use market, however sales were impacted by higher California state excise tax rates. To prepare for a ramp in demand as a result of the legalization of adult-use cannabis, Terra Tech continued constructing a 13,000 square foot cultivation facility in Hegenberger, Oakland which has the capacity to produce up to one metric ton, or 2,000 pounds, of cannabis per year. The facility is expected to be fully operational by the end of the second quarter of 2019.
San Leandro: Terra Tech's Blum dispensary opened in January 2019, making history as the first medical dispensary to open its doors in San Leandro.
Santa Ana: The Company was granted vertically-integrated Phase I permits at its East Dyer Road, East Carnegie Avenue and South Tech Center Drive locations which all have retail licenses. This will allow the Company to commence development of cultivation, manufacturing and distribution capabilities at these locations.
The Company secured a 25% ownership in The Healing Tree Collective, Inc., a California based permitted dispensary license.
Nevada:

The Company began cannabis cultivation at its new Sparks facility in July 2018, which was built out in conjunction with NuLeaf Sparks.
The Company completed the sale of its cannabis dispensary located at 1921 Western Avenue in Las Vegas, to Exhale Brands Nevada, for a total of $6,250,000 plus the value of any inventory.
Purchased a retail property in downtown Las Vegas, located at 121 North Fourth Street.
Edible Garden

Selected by Stop & Shop and Giant-Landover to supply organic leafy greens to their retail outlets
Exhibited its complete range of fresh, locally grown herbs and leafy greens at the Fresh Summit International Convention & Expo in October 2018
Participated in the New York Produce Show and Conference in December 2018
Conference Call

The company will also host a conference call today, Thursday, March 14, 2019 at 4:30 PM Eastern Time.

Dial-In Number: 1-857-232-0157
Access Code: 422095

Derek Peterson, Chairman and CEO of Terra Tech Corp., will be answering shareholder questions at the end of the call. Should you have questions during or prior to the conference call please send an email to [e-mail] with ‘TRTC Question' in the subject line. Mr. Peterson will answer as many questions as time will allow.

For those unable to participate in the live conference call, a replay will be available at http://smallcapvoice.com/blog/trtc/. An archived version of the webcast will also be available on the investor relations section of the company's website.
To be added to the Terra Tech email distribution list, please email [e-mail] with TRTC in the subject line.