Canada’s Cronos Starts Growing First Cannabis Seedlings on Israeli Soil

Nasdaq and Toronto-listed cannabinoid company Cronos Group Inc. has started to grow its first medical cannabis seedlings on Israeli soil, according to two people familiar with the matter who spoke to Calcalist on condition of anonymity. In 2017, Cronos signed a partnership with Kibbutz Gan Shmuel, which has an advanced cannabis operation in northern Israel.

The planting of 180 seedlings is the first step medical cannabis growers need to perform to receive regulatory approval in Israel according to the country’s recent reform. As export from Israel has yet to start, market estimates are that Cronos will take on existing Israeli growers first.

Cronos published its first quarter reports for 2019 on Tuesday, reporting lower revenues and higher losses than expected: the company had sales of 12.7 million Canadian dollars ($9.59 million) in the quarter, under the analyst consensus of 14.4 million Canadian dollars ($10.87 million). Of its revenues, 10.1 million Canadian dollars ($7.62 million) were from buds, while the rest were from oil and other cannabinoid products. The company’s operating loss for the quarter was 54.1 million Canadian dollars ($40.84 million), compared to a loss of 4.8 million Canadian dollars ($3.62 million) in the third quarter of 2018. The company did report a net income of 787.9 million Canadian dollars ($594.8 million) compared to a net loss of 7 million Canadian dollars ($5.28 million) in the third quarter of 2018, thanks to the 838.2 million Canadian dollars ($632.7 million) it made as a result of its investment in cannabis company Altria.