Verano Holdings Corp. (PNK:VRNOF) Q4 2022 Earnings Call Transcript

Brett Summerer: Sure. So in terms of the deferred tax liability, I just want to remind the deferred tax liability is an artifact of the M&A transactions that we do from equity, and it’s a disconnect between the IRS taxes and the U.S. GAAP tax calculation. So it’s just a time delay in terms of how the taxes come through. The income tax payable, I think, is what you’re referring to in terms of €“ similar to the question that we were asked a few minutes ago. We think about that the same way we have in the past. And we’ve stuck to that, 12 months to 18 months past the filing date is when we intend to take care of those taxes. And we are fully on that plan right now, we haven’t deviated. In terms of what we planned this year, it’s very similar.

So the obligations that we incurred in 2021 are going to be paid off here in 2023. And then €“ and you’ll see that tax balance kind of maintained at the level that it’s at or maybe slightly below. The deferred tax asset are the €“ I’m sorry, the deferred tax is on our liability, and liability is part of the balance sheet. That €“ you will see that, that is reduced. It’s reduced by about $50 million. The biggest movement in that is related to the impairment. So when we impair it, we no longer have that gap between €“ the IRS and between U.S. GAAP taxes, and it will be reduced on our balance sheet. But there’s no actual cash tax impact of that.

Kenric Tyghe: Thanks, Brett. Appreciate that. I’ll get back in queue.

Operator: We’ll take our next question from Scott Fortune at ROTH MKM.

Scott Fortune: Yes, good morning. Thanks for the questions. Obviously, a challenging environment out there with margins in line here. You’ve been able to hold SG&A flat and becoming more efficient from that standpoint. Are there additional cost savings or opportunities to kind of move levers to drive margins there? Just a little color on specifics to return, connect to your margin levels that you want. And then a follow on to that, are you seeing the pricing stabilization with the tight capital markets? And obviously, the cutback in CapEx, are we seeing some pricing stabilization in key states? And maybe call that out with respect to kind of March, end of March usually picks up in seasonality, kind of your sense there.

George Archos: Good morning. All good questions. We have seen some price stabilization. I think Q4 was kind of the dip and we’re starting to see things stabilized here in Q1 and moving forward. But we feel pretty comfortable with that. Seasonality is a thing, so we’re coming out of that. March usually starts to tick up here. So a lot of the markets in the Northeast, cold markets were starting to see the pickup, and we’re excited about it. Overall, I can pass off to Brett than anything else, but that’s kind of how you see things here.

Brett Summerer: Sure. On the margin, I’ll address in two different aspects, because it’s not just the SG&A, but the GM as well, and I know that has been a question here so far, and I want to make sure that, that’s €“ we drive that point home. But in terms of the SG&A on an adjusted basis, we’re at about 27% in Q4, but that’s actually stepped down. So it’s not kind of maintaining, we’re actually continuing to step down. Where is that going to look? Or how is that going to look next year? I think we have cost control in that space. If you think about what generally drives increased SG&A in our business, it’s more stores. We are adding a few more stores, but we’re adding revenue at the same time. From a margin perspective, I wouldn’t expect significant swings unless we announce some investments or that sort of thing.

And then on the gross margin, again, we’ve communicated in the past between 59% and 61% on an adjusted basis. And other than inventory here in Q4 and then also a favorable impact of inventory in Q3, that continues to remain at that level. So if you think about just national level of gross margin on adjusted basis, it’s right around that 59% to 61% sort of percentage.

Scott Fortune: I appreciate the color. Thanks. And then real quick, one last one for me. Can you provide a little more overall growth from a transaction volume standpoint versus pricing? And then kind of the opportunity from the wholesale standpoint. Obviously, New Jersey went for more stores coming on board and €“ kind of are there drivers on the wholesale growth side in 2023?

George Archos: The drivers on the wholesale side will continue in Illinois and New Jersey as stores open, where we have the supply of Illinois. Unfortunately, we believe there’s some oversupply in the state. Sort of manage that, we’re continuing to slowly ramp down the facility and keep enough inventory in place to be able to fully supply what happened because these stores are opening slowly than anticipated. Brett, you can comment on the rest €“ and that goes the same with New Jersey, as I mentioned earlier.

Brett Summerer: Yes. I would just say we don’t give out necessarily our gross margin €“ or sorry, gross revenue growth quarter-over-quarter because discounts are very real in this industry and the gross pricing isn’t necessarily something that we talked too much about. But what we can tell you is that, yes, we are transacting higher volumes. We are transacting higher gross revenues. So we are seeing that increase period over period over period.

Scott Fortune: Appreciate that. I’ll jump back in the queue.

Operator: We’ll go next to Russell Stanley at Beacon Securities.