Marijuana MSO Red White & Bloom delays results due to audit

Marijuana multistate operator Red White & Bloom Brands, which earlier this year cut costs to reduce debt, said it expects another two-week delay in filing its 2021 annual report and first-quarter 2022 report as its finances continue to be audited.

The Canadian-headquartered company, which operates in states including Arizona, California, Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts and Michigan, previously had expected to be able to make its annual and quarterly filings by July 15.

However, Red White & Bloom said in a news release that it had been informed by its Los Angeles-based auditor, Macias Gini & O’Connell, “that it (MGO) would not be in a position to complete the audit by July 15, 2022.”

“The company has been working diligently with MGO to ensure that the audit is completed as soon possible,” Red White & Bloom said in the news release.

The company’s stock price declined slightly on the news, but it already had plummeted from 52-week highs.

Red White & Bloom trades on the Canadian Securities Exchange under RWB, and on the U.S. over-the-counter markets under RWBYF.

Its U.S. stock was trading at about 15 cents a share as of mid-day Monday, down slightly from Friday, but off dramatically from its 52-week high of $1.01.

In the news release, Red White & Bloom said its Management Cease Trade Order, or MCTO, remains in effect.

During a MCTO, the general investing public can continue to trade the stock.

But the order prevents the company’s chief executive officer, interim chief financial officer or others who have access to material information not yet disclosed from trading in the stock.

In May, Red, White & Bloom made a number of moves to reduce costs and strengthen its balance sheet.

Those moves included eliminating $115 million in liabilities and more than $22 million in annual expenses in part by selling a cultivation facility in Illinois for $56 million.