The Société québécoise du cannabis (SQDC) posted second-quarter net income of 24.9 million on Thursday, up 11.7% compared to that of 22.3 million revealed last year for the same period.
Revenue for the Crown corporation responsible for retailing cannabis products in the province was $151.7 million for the quarter ended September 9, up 9.1 per cent from of 139.1 million from the previous second quarter.
The SQDC attributed the growth in its turnover to the addition of eight new branches to its network compared to the same period last year, as well as to a positive seasonal effect due to the return of certain summer activities in a post-pandemic context.
The SQDC’s net expenses totaled 23.8 million in the most recent quarter, a figure up 10.7% compared to those of 21.5 million recorded for the same period a year earlier. Expressed as a function of sales, these net expenses represented a rate of 15.7%, while it was 15.5% during the same quarter last year.
Revenues from in-store sales totaled $142.3 million in the most recent quarter, which was higher than the $132.5 million collected through this channel last year. Sales made on the SQDC website increased to 9.4 million, compared to 6.6 million in the previous second quarter.
Earlier this week, some 250 SQDC employees who have been on strike for a year and a half endorsed by nearly 85% the recommendation of the chief conciliator of the Ministry of Labor for a five-year agreement which will expire on March 31, 2027. Since the employer has also endorsed this recommendation, union members will be able to return to work in the coming weeks.
The strike only affected a little more than twenty of the 98 branches of the SQDC, i.e. those where the union members are members of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE-FTQ).
Only 24 of the 26 branches whose employees are affiliated with CUPE were on strike. The twenty branches unionized with the CSN were not affected by this work stoppage. A little more than half of the state corporation’s branches are not unionized.
