Manitoba sold $153.6 million worth of cannabis in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2024, bringing in $39.5 million in net revenue for the province.
Cannabis operations revenues for the Manitoba Liquor & Lotteries Corporation increased $22.7 million from the prior year, while net income and comprehensive income and total allocation to the Province of Manitoba increased by $8.3 million.
MBLL says this growth was mainly driven by the addition of 35 new retail locations. The province had 205 licensed private retail cannabis locations open throughout the province as of the end of March 2024, compared to 177 last year. Seven existing locations closed in the most recent fiscal year.
Sales of dried flower again dominated, with $92.9 million in sales, compared with $82.2 million in the previous fiscal year. Extracts were the next highest-selling product category, with $50 million in sales, up from $39.1 million the previous year.
There were $10.1 million worth of cannabis edibles sold in the year ended March 31, 2024, compared to $9.1 million in the previous year. Sales of cannabis topicals were worth $567,000, up from $424,000 in the previous year.
Manitoba also expanded its cannabis distribution options in the most recent fiscal year, allowing licensed producers to warehouse cannabis products with a licensed cannabis distributor, as well as implementing a twenty-day purchase order deadline and a five-day receiving requirement.
The MBLL says these changes have brought more cannabis inventory into the Manitoba market and closer to the retail network, improving the lead time and fulfillment cycles experienced by retailers.
In 2024-25, the MBLL says its cannabis operations will focus on technology initiatives, including the automation of its federal cannabis tracking requirements and the automation and enhancement of cannabis performance metrics and reporting.
For context, while the MBLL brought in $39.5 million in net revenue for cannabis sales, it brought in $89.9 million from casinos, $313.8 million from alcohol sales, $45.1 million from The Manitoba Lottery, $45.2 million from online gaming, and $199 million from video lotto. Cannabis sales were about 5% of the total $732.5 million combined net revenue from all these sources.
MBLL will host a virtual Q&A with President and CEO Gerry Sul on October 30, 2024.
