Green Thumb Profit Increases as U.S. Pot Demand Grows

May 4 (Reuters) – Green Thumb Industries Inc (GTII.CD) reported an increase in core revenue and profit on Wednesday as the growing acceptance of marijuana in the United States helped one of the world’s largest the country’s top weed growers to attract more customers.

Eighteen US states now allow the sale of cannabis for recreational use, with New Jersey joining the list last month and highlighting an increase in public support and demand for the plant since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. .

“We now have a $25 billion legal (cannabis) industry and we believe that over the next few years, maybe a decade, it will be a $75 billion to $100 billion industry,” the CEO told Reuters. by Green Thumb, Ben Kovler.

“We don’t see any other consumer industry with this kind of tailwind,” he said, calling the industry’s outlook “incredibly rosy.”

Green Thumb, one of the top three cannabis producers in the United States by market value, reported a 25% increase in revenue in the first quarter. Its base profit rose 16.5% to $77.5 million.

The company has seen an increase in traffic at its 76 open cannabis retail stores, it said in a statement.

“More Americans are buying products. We have new users due to state policy, new markets opening up, as well as higher traffic and a growing user base on current markets,” Kovler noted.

Green Thumb said net income attributable to the company rose to $28.9 million, or 12 cents per share, in the three months ended March 31, from $10.4 million, or 5 cents, one year ago.

Reporting by Rithika Krishna and Shariq Khan in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber

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