NL Liquor Corporation is reporting net earnings for the year are $199.6 million, a decrease of $11.1 million

It’s been 8 years since the sale of cannabis was legalized and the total retail market for the year ending March was $115M.

NLC is reporting net earnings for their fourth quarter was $39.7 million, a decrease of $1.8 million, compared to this time last year. President and CEO Bruce Keating says this is due to a couple of reasons. The decrease is attributable to continued declines in beer commission revenue, combined with higher operating and administrative expenses. 

Keating says they’ve also been sensitive to the financial pressures people are facing and for the past few years they have restricted price increases. 

Total beverage alcohol sales rang in at almost $310M, down slightly at .4 percent. Keating says that’s been a long term trend and the market is changing. He says this is a reflection of an aging population, changes in consumption, and that people are choosing different products. 

It’s been 8 years since the sale of cannabis was legalized and Keating says the total retail market for the year ending March was $115M. He says the previous year was $102M but they have 63 licensed retail locations now and the market is maturing. Keating says the product is better as well as pricing and accessibility. 

NLC net earnings for the whole fiscal year total $199.6 million, a decrease of $11.1 million or slightly more than 5% than the previous year.