Shareholders in JSE-listed Labat have endured a roller coaster ride but it seems that finally their patience - and investment - may be paying off. Labat  issued a trading statement on SENS on 9 March 2023 advising that “the company will reflect a profit for the six months ended 30 November 2022 compared to a loss in the comparable period.

”The earnings per share is expected to improve by 104.65% to 0.2 cents when compared to theloss per share of (4.3) cents for the corresponding prior period. The headline loss per share is expected to improve by 76.7% to (0.1) cents when compared to the headline loss per share of (4.3) cents for the corresponding prior period.”

Labat, which is also listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, has been losing cash at a rate of knots as  it’s struggled to turn its first mover advantage in the SA cannabis industry into actual profit. Although the trading statement gives no further details. Labat's CEO Brian van Rooyen has previously said that its subsidiaries, Sweetwater Aquaponics cultivation facility in the Eastern Cape and its retail brand Cannafrica, had become profitable divisions.The SAHPRA-licensed Sweetwaters has succesfully fulfilled offtake agreements for Australian and Swiss clients

Labat said the financial information had not been reviewed or reported on by its external auditors and reminded shareholdrs that that the company changed its year end from 31 August 2022 to 31 May 2022 and so the comparative period was the interim results for the six months ended 28 February 2022 (“comparable period”).”

READ: Labat's Maasdorp: Government inaction a scathing indictment as R107 billion of value in the cannabis industry waits to be unlocked.