Aurora Cannabis targets more cost cuts on path to profitability

(Reuters) - Aurora Cannabis Inc's top boss Miguel Martin expects the company to be profitable on a core basis in the first half of 2023, helped by C$60 million to C$80 million in cost savings.

More than three years into Canada's legalization of recreational cannabis, most large producers continue to post losses due to fewer-than-expected retail stores, cheaper rates on the black market and sluggish overseas growth.

Aurora said last week it would shut down a facility in Edmonton, Alberta, without disclosing the number of employees that would be impacted by the move.

"We have absolutely the right infrastructure and the right headcount so we don't foresee anything, you know, in the short term," Martin told Reuters when asked if the company plans to lay off more employees or shut facilities as part of the cost saving strategy.

Shares of the company were up 6.2% at C$8.58.

Martin said on Monday the additional cost saving will "clear our path to being adjusted EBITDA positive by the first half of our next fiscal year, even if revenue was to remain constant with our fiscal 2021 fourth quarter levels".

The company missed expectations for fourth-quarter revenue and posted a bigger-than-expected quarterly loss on Monday.

(Reporting by Arunima Kumar in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri)