Aurora Cannabis Loses its CEO and Announces a Cost Cutting Plan

Canadian marijuana producer Aurora Cannabis announced this week that its CEO Terry Boot is retiring. In his place, Executive Chairman Michael Singer will become interim CEO.

The company also outlined a “business transformation plan” in a lengthy statement that detailed job cuts and large cuts in the valuation of some assets that the company expects to recognize when it reports fiscal second-quarter 2020 results this month.

Shares of the stock fell over 16% in premarket trading on Friday.

Aurora said it has already eliminated about 500 full-time staff positions, or roughly 17% to 18% of its workforce.
In September the company said it had 2,779 employees as of the end of June 2019, and had grown to 3,000 workers into the fall.
Aurora aims to record asset-impairment charges of C$190 million to C$225 million and write-downs of C$740 million to C$775 million, and said it would bring capital expenditures under C$100 million for fiscal 2020.

“We believe that the long-term opportunity for Aurora remains very compelling, despite a slower-than-anticipated rate of industry growth in the near-term,” CFO Glen Ibbott. “We also believe our approach to rationalizing the business and conservatively improving our balance sheet positions Aurora in a more stable position for sustainable growth going forward.”

Aurora has lost 74% of its value in the past 12 months.

Disclaimer: We have no position in Aurora Cannabis Inc. (NYSE: ACB) mentioned and have not been compensated for this article.