TSX threatens to delist CannTrust

Jeff Lagerquist
Updated
Chemdawg marijuana plants grow at a facility in Smiths Falls, Ontario, Canada October 29, 2019. REUTERS/Blair Gable
Chemdawg marijuana plants grow at a facility in Smiths Falls, Ontario, Canada October 29, 2019. REUTERS/Blair Gable

Embattled cannabis producer CannTrust Holdings (TRST.TO)(CTST) faces an uncertain future on Canada’s main stock exchange as the TSX reviews its eligibility for listing.

It’s the latest setbacks for the Vaughan, Ont.-based company that Health Canada found in July to be growing pot in unlicensed rooms after a whistleblower report.

Earlier this month, Yahoo Finance Canada published video shot by the chief whistleblower. Nick Lalonde said the footage shows CannTrust’s biggest illicit grow room in operation in January. The scandal prompted the firing of chief executive officer Peter Aceto, and saw shares crumble to a penny stock. The company has shed more than 100 employees as it works to regain its licences.

CannTrust said the TSX review was prompted by its failure to file restated audited financial statements for 2018, its restated interim financial statements for the first quarter of 2019, its interim financial statements for the second and third quarters of 2019, and the corresponding management discussion and analysis documents.

CannTrust said the TSX has given the company until March 25, 2020 to file the documents or face delisting within 30 days. CannTrust anticipates filing those disclosures and meeting the TSX's requirements before the deadline.

The company also trades on the New York Stock Exchange.

Toronto-listed shares fell 1.79 per cent to $1.10 at 10:12 a.m. ET. New York-listed shares fell 0.59 per cent to $0.83.

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