How Aussies are getting super rich investing in marijuana as cannabis company triples its revenue in a year and pays its first dividend
- Medicinal marijuana company Cronos Australia has seen profits surge in 2022
- The firm began as joint-venture with $1.8billion Canadian firm Cronos Group
- The ASX stock price hit 35 cents a share on Monday up from 18 cents in July
Cronos Australia has tripled its annual revenue to $67million in 2022 and will be the first medicinal cannabis firm in the country to pay shareholders a dividend.
The Melbourne-based company's net profit jumped by $4.6million to $6.04million in the past 12 months - with much of the growth spurred on by its merger with similar Queensland-based business CDA Health in December.
'Cronos Australia is very pleased to be able to declare a dividend to its shareholders at 1 cent per share, fully franked,' CEO Rodney Cocks said this week.
'This is, yet again, another first for Cronos Australia, being the first ASX-listed medicinal cannabis company to report a profit and now, the first to declare a dividend.'
![Cannabis products can contain either THC or CBD with the latter not producing the 'high' (stock image)](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2022/08/29/05/61819725-11155337-Cannabis_products_can_contain_either_THC_or_CBD_with_the_latter_-a-6_1661746488325.jpg)
Cannabis products can contain either THC or CBD with the latter not producing the 'high' (stock image)
Mr Cocks said he was pleased the record growth could be shared with stockholders 'in a tangible way'.
In addition to the merger, he said profits were also being driven by the general growth in the medicinal cannabis market as restrictions are eased and more healthcare professionals prescribe the drug.
'Looking forward to 2023, the company is confident that it is well positioned to deliver further growth and shareholder value,' he said.
Cronos Australia, which began as a joint-venture with the $1.8billion Canadian giant Cronos Group, does not grow or manufacture cannabis products unlike many rival companies in the industry.
Rather it bills itself as having a 'laser-like' focus on its 'CanView' technology platform which acts as a medicinal cannabis marketplace, its branded products and its 'cannadoc' clinics.
![Dr Marcia Walker, interim chairperson of Cronos Australia](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2022/08/30/07/61819719-11155337-Dr_Marcia_Walker_interim_chairperson_of_Cronos_Australia-a-15_1661841188795.jpg)
![Rodney Cocks, CEO of the company](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2022/08/30/07/61819721-11155337-Rodney_Cocks_CEO_of_the_company-a-14_1661841188789.jpg)
Cronos Australia has tripled their revenue in 2022 (pictured: interim chairperson Dr Marcia Walker on left and CEO Rodney Cocks on right)
In the third quarter of 2022, about 125,500 products were sold through the CanView platform, totaling about $16million in sales.
Of that about $1.4million was the firm's own Adaya range.
'Companies that have made it (in the industry) have made a strategic shift away from cultivation. We've taken lessons from that and it sort of vindicates our decision and our strategy around being asset-lite. But we're also looking at tech places in the industry moving forward as well,' Mr Cocks said last month.
The company will pay the dividend to shareholders on October 11.
Cronos Australia's ASX stock price has risen to 35 cents a share as of Monday - after a dip to 18 cents a share in mid-July - and up from just over 10 cents a share in 2021.
Since 2016, certain laws have been passed to allow the prescribing and dispensing of medicinal cannabis products to Australians.
Patients can be prescribed medical cannabis, products that contain either THC or CBD, if a doctor decides it is appropriate.
There are now 260,000 prescriptions in Australia since medicinal cannabis was legalised.
Recreational marijuana use remains illegal in Australia.
But calls are growing for cannabis to be legalised in Australia in a move that would follow Canada, a suite of European countries and 18 states in America, including Colorado, New York and California.
A 2019 National Drug Strategy Household Survey revealed a significant minority - over 40 per cent of Australians - believe cannabis should be legalised for personal use.
![Medical professionals can prescribe cannabis to Australians after the laws were eased in 2016 (stock image)](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2022/08/29/02/61819727-11155337-image-a-20_1661736663898.jpg)
Medical professionals can prescribe cannabis to Australians after the laws were eased in 2016 (stock image)
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