President Trump and his Republican allies in Congress slammed former FBI director James Comey on Thursday following the release of a highly anticipated report by the Justice Department’s inspector general on his handling of memos documenting private conversations with the president.
“Perhaps never in the history of our Country has someone been more thoroughly disgraced and excoriated than James Comey in the just released Inspector General’s Report. He should be ashamed of himself!” Trump tweeted.
“The world is not dangerous becouse those who do harm, but because of those who look at itnwithout doing anything” – Albert Einstain
“The truth about mobile phone and wireless radiation: what we know, what we need to find out, and what you can do now” Presented by Dr Devra Davis, Visiting Professor of Medicine at the Hebrew University Hadassah Medical School, and Visiting Professor of Medicine at Ondokuz Mayis University, Turkey. The Lecture What are the health effects of mobile phones and wireless radiation? While Australia has led the world in safety standards, including compulsory seat-belt legislation, plain packaging on cigarettes, and product and food disclosure legislation, it falls behind in addressing the significant issues associated with mobile phone use. In this Dean’s Lecture, epidemiologist and electromagnetic radiation expert, Dr Devra Davis, will outline the evolution of the mobile phone and smartphone, and provide a background to the current 19 year old radiation safety standards (SAR), policy developments and international legislation. New global studies on the health consequences of mobile/wireless radiation will be presented, including children’s exposure and risks. The Speaker Dr Devra Davis is an internationally recognised expert on electromagnetic radiation from mobile phones and other wireless transmitting devices. She is currently the Visiting Professor of Medicine at the Hebrew University Hadassah Medical School, and Visiting Professor of Medicine at Ondokuz Mayis University, Turkey. Dr Davis was Founding Director of the Center for Environmental Oncology at The University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute — the first institute of its kind in the world, to examine the environmental factors that contribute to the majority of cases of cancer. In 2007, Dr Devra Davis founded nonprofit Environmental Health Trust to provide basic research and education about environmental health hazards. Dr Davis served as the President Clinton appointee to the Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board in the U.S.A. from 1994–1999, an independent executive branch agency that investigates, prevents and mitigates chemical accidents. As the former Senior Advisor to the Assistant Secretary for Health in the Department of Health and Human Services, she has counseled leading officials in the United States, United Nations, European Environment Agency, Pan American Health Organization, World Health Organization, and World Bank. Dr Davis holds a B.S. in physiological psychology and an M.A. in sociology from the University of Pittsburgh, 1967. She completed a PhD in science studies at the University of Chicago as a Danforth Foundation Graduate Fellow, 1972 and a M.P.H. in epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins University as a Senior National Cancer Institute Post-Doctoral Fellow, 1982. She has authored more than 200 publications and has been published in Lancet and Journal of the American Medical Association as well as the Scientific American and the New York Times. Dr Devra Davis is an internationally recognised expert on electromagnetic radiation from mobile phones and other wireless transmitting devices.
Square(SQ) and PayPal are both trying to generate more revenue off their peer-to-peer payments apps
Square Inc. continues to gain steam with its consumer-facing Cash App.
The company saw its highest-ever volume of Cash App downloads in July,
according to Instinet analyst Dan Dolev, with 2.4 million users adding
the app. The Cash App lets consumers send money to friends and spend
their funds through an associated debit card.
Cash App
downloads continued to eclipse downloads of PayPal Holding Inc.’s (PYPL)
Venmo app, per Dolev’s analysis of third-party data. There have been
59.8 million Cash App downloads since inception, Dolev said, compared
with 52.7 million Venmo downloads.
“The download gap between the two apps is at an all-time high,” he wrote in a note to clients.
Both Square ( SQ ) and PayPal are increasingly looking to generate revenue off of apps that started as destinations for peer-to-peer payments. Though the companies generally don’t charge customers to transfer money to their friends, Square and PayPal participate in the economics of credit-card transaction fees when consumers use their linked debit card to make payments in stores or online, and the companies also make customers pay to instantly transfer funds to their bank accounts.
The two companies disclose different metrics around their respective
peer-to-peer platforms. Square generated $135 million in second-quarter
revenue from the Cash App, excluding revenue made from Bitcoin-related
transactions, according to the company’s latest letter to shareholders.
PayPal said that Venmo processed $24 billion of payment volume in the
second quarter and that the service’s new active users are engaging with
Venmo’s monetizable offerings.
A PayPal spokesperson pointed
to first-quarter statistics indicating 40 million monthly active Venmo
users across the platform. A Square spokesperson declined to comment.
Square shares are up 1.6% in Tuesday trading and PayPal shares are up
0.4%. Square shares have risen 16% so far this year, while PayPal’s
stock has gained 29%.
Dear readers, As you know, The Epoch Times is a proudly independent news organization dedicated to truthful reporting.
Thanks to your support, we are now America’s fastest-growing newspaper.
It appears, however, that not everyone is thrilled with our growth and our dedication to restoring honest journalism.
On Aug. 20, NBC News and MSNBC dedicated a good amount of their time to The Epoch Times in an attempt to discredit us.
We at The Epoch Times were surprised ourselves at witnessing what
appears to be a new low that media are willing to drop to in an effort
to quash voices they don’t agree with.
False Accusations of ‘Conspiracy Theories’
MSNBC host Rachel Maddow, known for her biased coverage of the Trump
administration and for getting the Trump– Russia collusion story wrong,
dedicated a whole 30 minutes of prime-time television to us on Aug. 20.
In her segment, Maddow presents a carefully crafted picture based on
false claims that The Epoch Times is a purveyor of “conspiracy
theories.”
As Maddow and the staff at NBC News know themselves, nothing could be further from the truth.
Maddow and the NBC reporters dismiss but do not provide a single
point of factual rebuttal to our extensive coverage on the actions by
Obama-era officials targeting the Trump campaign in 2016, which have
become known as “Spygate.”
Instead, Maddow engages in a description of Spygate that borders on
lunacy, saying the scandal is “something about Donald Trump saving
America from ‘satanic Democratic pedophiles.’” The reality is that The
Epoch Times has become a recognized leader in
its coverage of the Spygate scandal. The tireless reporting by our
team of reporters based on actual evidence— including court documents,
congressional testimony, and interviews—has received wide acclaim from
readers across the country and validation from other media outlets,
including The New York Times, which has cited our coverage.
In a further attempt to discredit The Epoch Times, Maddow tried to
mix The Epoch Times’ reporting with content from an entertainment show
called “Edge of Wonder,” which is produced by NTD Television.
Maddow and the NBC reporters intentionally chose to ignore The Epoch
Times’ written statement, published on June 20, which clarified that
“The Epoch Times and NTD Television, while they are sister media, are
entirely separate entities. While we are aware of the entertainment show
‘Edge of Wonder,’ which was founded by former Epoch Times staff, The
Epoch Times is in no way connected with it, as the show’s website makes
clear.”
Maddow’s intent
to discredit The Epoch Times and its reporting was revealed through her
bizarre depiction of the Spygate scandal, alongside her repeated
attempts to conflate our journalism with content from an unrelated
entertainment show that explicitly focuses on the most audacious
conspiracy theories out there.
Misrepresenting Subscription Ads
NBC News also sought to intentionally misrepresent a popular digital
marketing campaign The Epoch Times is running to sell print
subscriptions. In the video advertisements, we discuss The Epoch Times’
editorial and feature content and encourage people to subscribe to our
print newspaper.
Facebook has specific rules for advertising that require
everyone—including publishers like The Epoch Times—to label content as
political advertising if it touches on social issues or politics,
something some news content naturally does.
Many other media run advertising campaigns for their content and products in the same category on Facebook.
For example, The New York Times and CNN have run many advertisements in that category.
NBC and MSNBC misrepresented our print-subscription advertisements
despite our clarifying this in our June 20 statement, which they again
chose to ignore. The statement read: “We take advantage of different
marketing platforms to grow our subscriber base, including Facebook. On
Facebook, we use video ads to drive subscriptions. The Epoch Times’
subscription advertisements have no political agenda. The only reason
some of them are run as ‘political advertising’ is that online
platforms require them to be categorized as such.”
It appears that because NBC News and MSNBC disagree with our
independent and fact-based journalism, they have resorted to these
unwarranted attacks.
Attacks on Religious Belief
But the most disturbing part of the coverage by Maddow’s show and NBC
News is their deliberate effort to attack a group of religious believers
currently persecuted in China.
This comes at a time when tens of millions in China still don’t have
religious freedom and face arrest, illegal incarceration in labor
camps, torture, and even forced organ harvesting, for practicing their
beliefs.
The Epoch
Times was originally founded by Chinese Americans who had fled
communism. In America, they saw the opportunity to create an independent media that would benefit people around the world.
The founders of The Epoch Times believed in truthfulness, compassion,
and tolerance, the principles of Falun Gong. This is a fact that we have
never shied away from. And it is exactly this commitment to truth that
can be seen in our reporting. That said, The Epoch Times is an
independently owned media and not owned or operated by Falun Gong, as we
clarified in our statement to NBC News.
Unable to attack The Epoch Times’ reporting based on factual
inaccuracies, NBC News and MSNBC opted to dip into the well of 20 years
of Chinese Communist Party hate propaganda aimed at demonizing Falun
Gong.
In such low
attacks, and in the brazen misrepresentation of our subscription ads and
our Spygate reporting, one sees the very image of what has come to be
called “fake news.” I believe that this and similar betrayals of
journalism are why so many people are turning to The Epoch Times for our
independent and factual reporting.
Immigrants have played an enormous role in building this great nation.
It is a country built on the principle of religious freedom. As such,
we see The Epoch Times’ story as a quintessential American story.
Our pledge to you, our readers, is that we will not waver from our
commitment to truth, and will continue to bring you the highest quality
of journalism.
More than 2 1/2 years after President Donald Trump assumed office, focus on actions taken during the 2016 presidential campaign is starting to shift toward the CIA and its former director, John Brennan.
While some observers, including this publication, have pointed out for more than a year that Brennan appears to have played a key role in the scandal that’s become known as Spygate, actions taken by Brennan and the CIA now appear to have become a central focus of investigators.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) told Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo that Justice Department Inspector General (IG) Michael Horowitz was “doing a very in-depth dive about the FISA warrant application” and “the behavior regarding the counterintelligence operation.”
Graham noted that he believed Horowitz’s report would be com ing out in “weeks—not days, not months” and would prove to be “ugly and damning regarding the Department of Justice’s handling of the Russian probe.” Graham noted that the IG’s report has been delayed because “every time you turn around, you find something new.”
Graham said he wants the IG’s report to be as declassified as possible in order for the “American public to hear the story.”
Graham said that prosecutor John
Durham “will be looking at criminality, did somebody violate the law,”
while Horowitz “will be telling us about the good, the bad, and the
ugly, and what should be done internally.” He went so far as to mention
exploring a possible restructuring of the Department of Justice.
Toward the end of the segment, Bartiromo asked Graham: “Who do you
think is the mastermind of this? Whose idea was it to insert Donald
Trump into Russia meddling?”
Graham responded: “You know, I really am very curious about the role the CIA played here. We know that the FISA warrant application was based on a dossier prepared by Christopher Steele, who was biased against Trump, that was unverified. That’s one problem. But this whole intelligence operation— what role did the CIA play?”
Graham then went a step further,
asking: “Who knew about this in the White House? Here’s a question: Was
President Obama briefed on the fact that they were opening up a
counterintelligence investigation against the Trump campaign? I’d like
to know that.”
Bartiromo, who noted that Brennan was running the CIA at that time and
would have likely provided the Obama briefing, asked Graham if he was
going to call Brennan to testify before Congress. Graham responded
somewhat cryptically, saying only, “We’ll see.”
Brennan’s Role
Brennan appears to have played a key role in establishing the FBI’s
counterintelligence investigation into the Trump campaign—including
making repeated use of questionable foreign intelligence.
Former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper personally
confirmed foreign intelligence involvement during congressional
testimony in May 2017: Sen. Dianne Feinstein: “Over the spring of 2016,
multiple European allies passed on additional information to the United
States about contacts between the Trump campaign and Russians. Is this
accurate?”
James Clapper: “Yes, it is, and it’s also quite sensitive. The specifics are quite sensitive.”
Brennan has testified to Congress that any information, specifically
“anything involving the individuals involved in the Trump campaign was
shared with the bureau [FBI].” Brennan also admitted that it was his
intelligence that helped establish the FBI investigation: “I was aware
of intelligence and information about contacts between Russian
officials and U.S. persons that raised concerns in my mind about whether
or not those individuals were cooperating with the Russians, either in a
witting or unwitting fashion, and it served as the basis for the FBI
investigation to determine whether such collusion [or] cooperation
occurred.”
Focus on Intelligence Role Prior to FBI Probe
John Solomon of The Hill, who has extensively covered the Spygate
scandal, told Bartiromo in an interview that he was hearing that “John
Durham and Bill Barr are focused on the part before the FBI officially
got started on July 31, 2016, the period of March to July, and whether
intelligence assets—Western, private, or U.S.—were deployed in an
earlier effort to start probing the Trump campaign and its Russia
ties—maybe lay the breadcrumb trail of evidence that Christopher Steele
then collected up and gave to the FBI.”
Solomon noted that when Attorney General Barr said, “I believe there
was political surveillance going on,” this was likely what he was
referring to.
This
focus on the spring of 2016 is particularly interesting given that
during this time, Brennan appeared to have employed the use of reverse
targeting on members of the Trump campaign. Reverse targeting refers to
the targeting of a foreign individual with the intent of capturing data
on a U.S. citizen. During an Aug. 17, 2018, interview with MSNBC’s
Rachel Maddow, Brennan said: “We call it incidental collection in terms
of CIA’s foreign intelligence collection authorities. Any time we
would incidentally collect information on a U.S. person, we would hand
that over to the FBI because they have the legal authority to do it. We
would not pursue that type of investigative, you know, sort of leads.
We would give it to the FBI. So, we were picking things up that was of
great relevance to the FBI, and we wanted to make sure that they were
there—so they could piece it together with whatever they were
collecting domestically here.”
As this foreign intelligence—unofficial in nature and outside of
traditional channels— was gathered on members of the Trump campaign,
Brennan began his process of feeding his gathered intelligence to the
FBI. Repeated transfers of foreign intelligence from the CIA director
helped push the FBI toward establishing a formal counterintelligence investigation.
Role of Joseph Mifsud
Solomon also discussed the role of Joseph Mifsud, the individual who
told Trump campaign aide George Papadopoulos in March 2016 that Russia
had Hillary Clinton emails. Solomon noted that he had recently
interviewed Stefan Roe, Mifsud’s lawyer, who told him that Mifsud “had
long worked with Western intelligence” and that he was “asked to connect
George Papadopoulos to Russia— meaning it was an operation, some form
of an intelligence operation.”
As Solomon noted, this would mean that the “flashpoint that started
the whole investigation was, in fact, manufactured from the beginning.”
Solomon also noted that “both John Durham and two different committees
in Congress have recently reached out to get this evidence from the
lawyer, which includes an audiotaped deposition that Mr. Mifsud gave his
lawyer before he went into hiding.”
Bartiromo closed by asking Solomon the same question she put to
Graham, “Who do you think is the mastermind?” Solomon responded in a
similar fashion to Graham, noting: “I think the CIA. We have to take a
closer look at them. We’re starting to see some sign of it.”
Role of UK Intelligence
Luke Harding, a journalist for The Guardian, had previously reported on
the early involvement of UK intelligence and their interaction with
the U.S. intelligence community, noting that
Britain’s Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) was engaged in
collecting information on the Trump campaign and transmitting it to the
United States beginning in late 2015:
“In late 2015, the British eavesdropping agency GCHQ was carrying out
standard ‘collection’ against Moscow targets. … The intelligence was
handed to the U.S. as part of a routine sharing of information,” Harding
wrote in an article on Nov. 15, 2017.
Additionally, in the summer of 2016, Robert Hannigan, then-head of
GCHQ, traveled to Washington to personally meet with Brennan: “That
summer, GCHQ’s then head, Robert Hannigan, flew to the U.S. to
personally brief CIA chief John Brennan. The matter was deemed so
important that it was handled at ‘director level,’ face-to-face between
the two agency chiefs,” Harding reported.
Around the same time, Brennan formed an inter-agency task force comprising an estimated six agencies and government departments. Brennan appeared to describe the task force formation during the Aug. 17, 2018, interview with MSNBC’s Maddow: Maddow: “So, it’s an intelligence-sharing operation between …”
Brennan: “Right. We put together a
Fusion Center at CIA that brought NSA and FBI officers together with
CIA to make sure that those proverbial dots would be connected.”
FBI’s ‘Mid-Year Exam’ Team Shifts to Trump Probe
By the spring of 2016, the Clinton email investigation was winding
down. This was due in large part to the fact that the Department of
Justice, under Attorney General Loretta Lynch, had decided to set an
unusually high threshold for the prosecution of Clinton, effectively
ensuring from the outset that she wouldn’t be charged.
In order for Clinton to be prosecuted, the department required the FBI
to establish evidence of intent—even though the gross negligence
statute explicitly doesn’t require that.
It was at this same time that Trump campaign adviser Papadopoulos had
his April 26, 2016, meeting with Mifsud, followed a few weeks later
with his ill-fated meeting with Australian diplomat Alexander Downer in
Brennan also admitted that it was his intelligence that helped establish the
FBI investigation.
Who do you think is the mastermind of this? Whose idea was it to insert Donald
Trump into Russia meddling?
Maria Bartiromo, journalist
Then-President Barack Obama (L) nominates chief counterterrorism adviser John Brennan (R) to be CIA director during an event in the East Room at the White House on Jan. 7, 2013.
President Trump anuncia medidas para combatir los hechos violentos de asesinatos masivos.
The President: Good morning.
My fellow Americans, this morning, our nation is overcome
with shock, horror, and sorrow.
This weekend, more than 80 people were killed or wounded in
two evil attacks.
On Saturday morning, in El Paso, Texas, a wicked man went to
a Walmart store, where families were shopping with their loved ones.
He shot and murdered 20 people, and injured 26 others,
including precious little children.
Then, in the early hours of Sunday morning in Dayton, Ohio,
another twisted monster opened fire on a crowded downtown street.
He murdered 9 people, including his own sister, and injured
27 others.
The First Lady and I join all Americans in praying and
grieving for the victims, their families, and the survivors.
We will stand by their side forever.
We will never forget.
These barbaric slaughters are an assault upon our communities,
an attack upon our nation, and a
crime against all of humanity.
We are outraged and sickened by this monstrous evil, the
cruelty, the hatred, the malice, the bloodshed, and the terror.
Our hearts are shattered for every family whose parents,
children, husbands, and wives were ripped from their arms and their lives.
America weeps for the fallen.
We are a loving nation, and our children are entitled to
grow up in a just, peaceful, and loving society.
Together, we lock arms to shoulder the grief, we ask God in
Heaven to ease the anguish of those who suffer, and we vow to act with urgent
resolve.
I want to thank the many law enforcement personnel who
responded to these atrocities with the extraordinary grace and courage of
American heroes.
I have spoken with Texas Governor Greg Abbott and Ohio
Governor Mike DeWine, as well as Mayor Dee Margo of El Paso, Texas, and Mayor
Nan Whaley of Dayton, Ohio, to express our profound sadness and unfailing
support.
Today, we also send the condolences of our nation to President
Obrador of Mexico, and all the people of Mexico, for the loss of their citizens
in the El Paso shooting.
Terrible, terrible thing.
I have also been in close contact with Attorney General Barr
and FBI Director Wray. Federal authorities are on the ground, and I have directed
them to provide any and all assistance required — whatever is needed.
The shooter in El Paso posted a manifesto online consumed by
racist hate.
In one voice, our nation must condemn racism, bigotry, and
white supremacy.
These sinister ideologies must be defeated.
Hate has no place in America.
Hatred warps the mind, ravages the heart, and devours the
soul.
We have asked the FBI to identify all further resources they
need to investigate and disrupt hate crimes and domestic terrorism — whatever
they need.
We must recognize that the Internet has provided a dangerous
avenue to radicalize disturbed minds
and perform demented acts.
We must shine light on the dark recesses of the Internet,
and stop mass murders before they start.
The Internet, likewise, is used for human trafficking,
illegal drug distribution, and so many other heinous crimes.
The perils of the Internet and social media cannot be ignored,
and they will not be ignored.
In the two decades since Columbine(April
22, 1999), our nation has watched with rising horror and dread as one mass shooting
has followed another — over and over again, decade after decade.
We cannot allow ourselves to feel powerless.
We can and will stop this evil contagion.
In that task, we must honor the sacred memory of those we
have lost by acting as one people.
Open wounds cannot heal if we are divided.
We must seek real, bipartisan solutions.
We have to do that in a bipartisan manner.
That will truly make America safer and better for all.
First, we must do a better job of identifying and acting on
early warning signs.
I am directing the Department of Justice to work in partisan
— partnership with local, state, and federal agencies, as well as social media
companies, to develop tools that can detect mass shooters before they strike.
As an example, the monster in the Parkland high school in
Florida had many red flags against him, and yet nobody took decisive action.
Nobody did anything.
Why not?
Second, we must stop the glorification of violence in our
society.
This includes the gruesome and grisly video games that are
now commonplace.
It is too easy today for troubled youth to surround themselves
with a culture that celebrates violence.
We must stop or substantially reduce this, and it has to
begin immediately.
Cultural change is hard, but each of us can choose to build
a culture that celebrates the inherent worth and dignity of every human life.
That’s what we have to do.
Third, we must reform our mental health laws to better
identify mentally disturbed individuals who may commit acts of violence and
make sure those people not only get treatment, but, when necessary, involuntary
confinement.
Mental illness and hatred pulls the trigger, not the gun.
Fourth, we must make sure that those judged to pose a grave
risk to public safety do not have access to firearms, and that, if they do,
those firearms can be taken through rapid due process.
That is why I have called for red flag laws, also known as
extreme risk protection orders.
Today, I am also directing the Department of Justice to
propose legislation ensuring that those who commit hate crimes and mass murders
face the death penalty, and that this capital punishment be delivered quickly,
decisively, and without years of needless delay.
These are just a few of the areas of cooperation that we can
pursue.
I am open and ready to listen and discuss all ideas that
will actually work and make a very big difference.
Republicans and Democrats have proven that we can join together
in a bipartisan fashion to address this plague.
Last year, we enacted the STOP
School Violence and Fix NICS Acts into
law, providing grants to improve school safety and strengthening critical background
checks for firearm purchases.
At my direction, the Department of Justice banned bump
stocks.
Last year, we prosecuted a record number of firearms offenses.
But there is so much more that we have to do.
Now is the time to set destructive partisanship aside — so
destructive — and find the courage to answer hatred with unity, devotion, and
love.
Our future is in our control.
America will rise to the challenge.
We will always have, and we always will win.
The choice is ours and ours alone.
It is not up to mentally ill monsters; it is up to us.
If we are able to pass great legislation after all of these
years, we will ensure that those who were attacked will not have died in vain.
ACB, -2.21%ACB, +7.84% said Tuesday it expects to reportrevenue net of excise taxesfor its fiscal fourth quarter of C$100 million ($75.8 million) to C$107 million, up from C$19.1 million in the year-earlier period. The company hadrevenueof C$65.1 million for the previous quarter to end March.3 hours ago
EDMONTON,Aug. 6, 2019/PRNewswire/ – Aurora Cannabis Inc. (“Aurora” or the “Company”) (NYSE | TSX: ACB), the Canadian company defining the future of cannabis worldwide, today provided a corporate update on selected financial metrics for the fourth quarter of the Company’s Fiscal 2019 (“Q4 2019”) period endedJune 30, 2019. This reiteration of guidance and clarification of operations is intended to update our investors as Aurora continues to demonstrate leadership in transparency and disclosure as the industry navigates throughs periods of volatility. Full results will be published prior toSeptember 15, 2019, details for which will be provided in advance.
Based on a preliminary (unaudited) review, the Company anticipates net revenues for the quarter endedJune 30, 2019of between$100 millionand$107 million(net of excise taxes), compared to$19.1 millionin the period endedJune 30, 2018, and compared to$65.1 millionfor the previous quarter endedMarch 31, 2019. Fiscal Q4 2019 net cannabis revenue is expected to be between$90 millionand$95 million, with growth anticipated across all key business segments including medical, both Canadian and international, and consumer markets. The Company anticipates total net revenues for the fiscal year endedJune 30, 2019to be between$249 million–$256 million. The Company expects to report that production available for sale for Q4 2019 will be at the upper end of the range between 25,000 kg and 30,000 kg, ahead of previous guidance of 25,000 kgs.
These production and revenue estimates reflect strong delivery against corporate Key Performance Indicators (“KPIs”), the financial metrics the Company uses to evaluate the business on a day-to-day basis. The Company also expects to report sequential quarterly improvements in these KPIs, in particular: gross margins, kilograms of cannabis sold and cash costs per gram produced. The Company continues to track toward positive adjusted EBITDA, and in particular adjusted EBITDA from cannabis operations.
From the beginning, the Company’s core philosophy of “purpose-built facilities” has focused on high quality cultivation of medical grade cannabis globally. This approach is validated by material growth in production and revenue and continued improvement in the above KPIs. Aurora’s management team and Board of Directors continue to drive a culture rooted in quality, transparency, and regulatory compliance. Aurora has grown both organically and through acquisitions of companies with shared visions, and today this culture is ingrained in Aurora’s over 2,500 employees across the globe.
“Our Q4 2019 guidance highlights Aurora’s continued leadership,” saidTerry Booth, CEO of Aurora. “We set out to be best-in-class cultivators, and through carefully evaluated acquisitions, that vision continues to drive exceptional results today. We are the leader in cultivation capacity, production available for sale and revenues for cannabis in the Canadian medical and consumer markets. We continue to lead the build out of European and other international medical cannabis markets. Our success to date comes from a focus on quality, regulatory compliance, appropriate Board of Directors oversight, and delivering a profitable, low risk and sustainable business for our shareholders.”
The preliminary estimated financial results and other data for the three months endedJune 30, 2019set forth above are subject to the completion of the Company’s financial closing procedures. This data has been prepared by, and is the responsibility of, the Company’s management. Aurora’s independent registered public accounting firm, KPMG LLP, is in the process of performing year-end audit procedures with respect to the accompanying preliminary financial results and other data, and accordingly does not express an opinion or any other form of assurance with respect thereto. The Company currently expects that its final results of operations and other data will be consistent with the estimates set forth above, but such estimates are preliminary and Aurora’s actual results of operations and other data could differ materially from these estimates due to the completion of its fiscal year-end audit procedures, final adjustments, and other developments that may arise between now and the time such annual audited consolidated financial statements for the twelve months endedJune 30, 2019are released.
The Company defines adjusted EBITDA as net income (loss) excluding interest income (expense), accretion, income taxes, depreciation, amortization, changes in fair value of inventory sold, changes in fair value of biological assets, share-based compensation, changes in fair value of financial instruments, gains and losses on deemed disposal, and non-cash impairment of equity investments, goodwill and intangible assets. Adjusted EBITDA from cannabis operations is defined as adjusted EBITDA for the Company’s business units engaged in the production and sale of cannabis and legal derivatives thereof and excludes non-cannabis-related business units or operations.
About Aurora
Headquartered inEdmonton, Alberta, Canadawith funded capacity in excess of 625,000 kg per annum and sales and operations in 25 countries across five continents, Aurora is one of the world’s largest and leading cannabis companies. Aurora is vertically integrated and horizontally diversified across every key segment of the value chain, from facility engineering and design to cannabis breeding and genetics research, cannabis and hemp production, derivatives, high value-add product development, home cultivation, wholesale and retail distribution.
Highly differentiated from its peers, Aurora has established a uniquely advanced, consistent and efficient production strategy, based on purpose-built facilities that integrate leading-edge technologies across all processes, defined by extensive automation and customization, resulting in the massive scale production of high-quality consistent product. Designed to be replicable and scalable globally, our production facilities are designed to produce cannabis at significant scale, with high quality, industry-leading yields, and low-per gram production costs. Each of Aurora’s facilities is built to meet European Union Good Manufacturing Practices (“EU GMP”) standards. Certification has been granted to Aurora’s first production facility in Mountain View County, the MedReleaf Markham facility, and its wholly owned European medical cannabis distributor Aurora Deutschland. All Aurora facilities are designed and built to the EU GMP standard.
In addition to the Company’s rapid organic growth and strong execution on strategic M&A, which to date includes 17 wholly owned subsidiary companies – MedReleaf, CanvasRX, Peloton Pharmaceutical, Aurora Deutschland, H2 Biopharma, BC Northern Lights, Larssen Greenhouses, CanniMed Therapeutics, Anandia, HotHouse Consulting, MED Colombia, Agropro, Borela, ICC Labs, Whistler, and Chemi Pharmaceutical – Aurora is distinguished by its reputation as a partner and employer of choice in the global cannabis sector, having invested in and established strategic partnerships with a range of leading innovators, including: Radient Technologies Inc. (RTI.V), Hempco Food and Fiber Inc. (HEMP.V), Cann Group Ltd. (CAN.AX), Micron Waste Technologies Inc. (CSE:MWM), Choom Holdings Inc. (CSE:CHOO), CTT Pharmaceuticals (CTTH), Alcanna Inc. (CLIQ.TO), High Tide Inc. (CSE:HITI), EnWave Corporation (ENW.V), Capcium Inc. (private), Evio Beauty Group (private), and Wagner Dimas (private).
Aurora’s Common Shares trade on the TSX and NYSE under the symbol “ACB”, and is a constituent of the S&P/TSX Composite Index.
For more information about Aurora, please visit our investor website, investor.auroramj.com
Terry Booth, CEO
Aurora Cannabis Inc.
Forward looking statements
This news release makes reference to certain non-IFRS measures, including certain industry metrics. These metrics and measures are not recognized measures under IFRS do not have meanings prescribed under IFRS and are as a result unlikely to be comparable to similar measures presented by other companies. These measures are provided as information complimentary to those IFRS measures by providing a further understanding of our operating results from the perspective of management. As such, these measures should not be considered in isolation or in lieu of review of our financial information reported under IFRS. This news release uses non-IFRS measures including “EBITDA”, “adjusted EBITDA”, “net cannabis revenue”, “adjusted EBITDA from cannabis operations” and “production available for sale”. EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA and production available for sale are commonly used operating measures in the industry but may be calculated differently compared to other companies in the industry. These non-IFRS measures, including the industry measures, are used to provide investors with supplementary measures of our operating performance that may not otherwise be apparent when relying solely on IFRS metrics. Definitions of the non-IFRS measures can be found in our most recent MD&A and in this news release.
This news release also includes statements containing certain “forward-looking information” within the meaning of applicable securities law (“forward-looking statements”). Forward-looking statements are frequently characterized by words such as “plan”, “continue”, “expect”, “project”, “intend”, “believe”, “anticipate”, “estimate”, “may”, “will”, “potential”, “proposed” and other similar words, or statements that certain events or conditions “may” or “will” occur and include, but are not limited to the Company’s achievement of its production and revenue estimates and the Company’s ability to report positive adjusted EBITDA for cannabis operations and production available for sale for Q4 2019 . These statements are only predictions. Various assumptions were used in drawing the conclusions or making the projections contained in the forward-looking statements throughout this news release. Forward-looking statements are based on the opinions and estimates of management at the date the statements are made, and are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. These risks include, but are not limited to, the ability to retain key personnel, the ability to continue investing in infrastructure to support growth, the ability to obtain financing on acceptable terms, the continued quality of our products, customer experience and retention, the development of third party government and non-government consumer sales channels, managements estimation of consumer demand inCanadaand in jurisdictions where the Company exports, expectations of future results and expenses, the availability of additional capital to complete construction projects and facilities improvements, the risk of successful integration of acquired business and operations, the impact of competition, and the possibility for changes in laws, rules, and regulations in the industry. The Company is under no obligation, and expressly disclaims any intention or obligation, to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as expressly required by applicable law.
Neither TSX, NYSE nor their applicable Regulation Services Providers (as that term is defined in the policies of the Toronto Stock Exchange and New York Stock Exchange) accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Rodolfo's Cafe 