Marijuana MSO Verano to restate financials from five prior quarters

Marijuana multistate operator Verano Holdings said it must restate five quarterly financial statements dating back to March 31, 2021, and that all of its disclosures and investor presentations since then “should therefore no longer be relied upon.”

The Illinois-based company said this week in a news release the restatements will include:

• A revaluation of the company’s stock-based compensation expense for each of those financial quarters. The company said it understated those expenses.
• A recalculation of the company’s tax expense in the first quarter of 2022. That was overstated and, accordingly, the company’s tax obligation will be reduced, according to Verano.

In addition, Verano said its audit committee determined that the company’s tax expense for the first quarter of 2022 was overstated because of a clerical error in calculating the tax rate.

Verano said it will file the appropriate adjustments to its financials “as soon as practicable.”

The company’s stock price slid about 10% after Wednesday’s announcement to about $6 a share on the U.S. over-the-counter markets but had steadied at about $6.20 a share on Friday morning.

Verano shares trade on the over-the-counter markets as VRNOF, and on the Canadian Securities Exchange as VRNO.

Like many marijuana MSOs, Verano’s stock has been pummeled the past year, and is substantially off its 52-week high of $18.78 on the OTC market.

Source: https://mjbizdaily.com/marijuana-mso-verano-to-restate-financials-from-five-prior-quarters/