Sales Up, Profits Down At NSLC
HALIFAX—The Nova Scotia Liquor Corporation made more money selling pot and booze in 2022 than it did in 2021 but its overall profits are down.
On June 14, the crown corporation released its financial results for the 2021/2022 fiscal year. From April 1 to March 31, total sales at the NSLC were $820.5 million. That’s a 3.5 percent jump from the $791 million it sold the previous year.
However, this year the corporation’s overall earnings were down more than two percent, to $268.7 million. NSLC president and CEO Greg Hughes says that happened for several reasons.
To start, Nova Scotians are buying more cannabis than they have in the past. They are also more often choosing local products over imported ones. The NSLC makes less profit on both pot and local beverages.
Hughes also says payroll costs at the corporation are up, and they’ve had to pay more for shipping.
Cannabis Sales Growing Quickly
Alcohol still brings in most of the NSLC’s profits, but cannabis is now its fastest-growing product category.
Over the last year, the corporation made $718.7 million selling booze and $101.7 million selling pot. The year before, cannabis brought in just $86 million.
A big part of that increase is likely because the NSLC opened 13 new cannabis stores over the past year. There are now 37 NSLC cannabis stores scattered throughout the province.
“This improved access to a safe supply of cannabis, along with a further reduction in prices, as we work to impact sales in the illicit market,” Hughes said.
Meanwhile, the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on the NSLC’s sales appear to be waning.
Sales to bars, restaurants, and other businesses that serve alcohol returned to “more normal levels” over the past year as restrictions lifted and Nova Scotians started going out more.
Sales to licensees were up 45.1 percent last year; sales to private wine and specialty stores were up 26.7 percent; and sales to agency stores were down 7.3 percent, after experiencing unusually high volumes during the peak of the pandemic.
This year the NSLC also launched a home delivery service.
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The service got off to a rocky start after its February launch was met with website glitches that forced the corporation to delay the service.
The NSLC did not say how much money the new service brought in last year, or how many customers used it.