High Tide Inc. (“High Tide” or the “Company“) (NASDAQ: HITI) (TSXV: HITI) (FSE: 2LYA), a leading retail-focused cannabis company with bricks and mortar as well as global e-commerce assets, announces that it has missed the deadline of January 31, 2022 to file the Company’s audited annual financial statements and management discussion & analysis for the financial years ended October 31, 2021 and 2020, and the CEO and CFO certificates, all as required by National Instrument 51-102 and National Instrument 52-109 (collectively, the “Documents“). The delay is due, in part, to personnel challenges relating to the COVID-19 pandemic. Accordingly, the Company will inform the Alberta Securities Commission (“ASC“) of its anticipated delay in filing the Documents and may apply to the ASC pursuant to Part 4 of National Policy 12-203 – Management Cease Trade Orders (“NP 12-203“) for a Management Cease Trade Order (“MCTO“) pending the filing of the Documents, which MCTO will prohibit the Company’s management from trading in the securities of the Company until such time as the Documents are filed. No decision has yet been made by the ASC on this application.
The Company has been working diligently with its auditors to finalize its reconciliation of the effective tax rate and income tax provisions for the year ended October 31, 2021, but to date have been unable to reconcile the deferred tax balance. The Company is confident that the issue will be resolved shortly, but based on the Company having over 39 subsidiaries, and completing a number of strategic acquisitions in the period, the efforts are ongoing. The Company does not expect any balances to be materially changed from those outlined in its press release dated January 27, 2022, with the exception of: (i) the income tax expense; (ii) net loss; (iii) and comprehensive loss, with no impact on what the Company views the key drivers of the business to be including revenue, gross profit and adjusted EBITDA.
