Good morning. Welcome to Nova Cannabis second quarter 2023 financial results conference call. Yesterday, Nova issued a press release announcing their financial results for the second quarter, ended on June 30, 2023. This press release is available on the company's website at novacannabis.ca and filed on SEDAR as well. The webcast replay of the conference call will also be available on the Nova website. Presenting on this morning's call, we have Marcie Kiziak, Chief Executive Officer, and Cam Sebastian, Chief Financial Officer. Before we start, I would like to remind investors that certain matters discussed in today's conference call or answers that may be given to questions could constitute forward-looking statements. Actual results could differ materially from those anticipated. Risk factors that could affect results are detailed in the company's financial reports and other public filings that are made available on SEDAR. Additionally, all financial figures mentioned are in Canadian dollars, unless otherwise indicated. We will now make prepared remarks, and then we'll move to analyst questions. I would now like to turn the call over to Marcie Kiziak. Good morning, everybody, and thank you for joining us for Nova's second quarter 2023 conference call. I'm excited to share Nova's results as we continue to drive meaningful year-over-year and quarterly sequential growth across our key financial metrics. I am incredibly proud to report that Nova has achieved record revenue with seven consecutive quarters of growth margin improvement. These results led to an adjusted EBITDA of CAD 5.5 million, representing an increase of 161% compared to Q2 2022. Before we dive deeper into our results, I'd also like to take this opportunity to talk about the current state of the cannabis environment and the proactive steps that our team has taken to solidify Nova's leadership in the retail sector. It is no secret that the current cannabis market is fraught with challenges due to regulatory impediments and an oversaturated market. However, I believe we are reaching a critical juncture where there are still significant opportunities for those who are well-prepared to navigate today's economic and regulatory landscape. Nova's achievements hinge on its ability to continually adapt to current conditions and take decisive actions to secure our future success in the industry. This includes our strategic partnership with SNDL, effective real estate procurement, enhanced data licensing programs to support strong LP partnerships and customer loyalty, and margin-enhancing strategies aimed at boosting revenue and expediting our path to free cash flow. We continue to explore all paths to sustainable profitability while remaining true to our customer promise. Before I move on to our second quarter results, I'd like to update you on our strategic partnership with SNDL. As publicly announced on July 25th, while all other provincial approvals have been received, the continued review by one provincial regulator has necessitated a further extension for the closing of the strategic partnership. We anticipate the transaction will close on or before August 25th, 2023. Once the transaction is approved, Nova's multi-banner retail footprint will grow by approximately 33%. There is potential to add more locations through further retail consolidation and strategic M&A, enabling growth in key provinces, including Ontario and British Columbia. As we look to future store growth opportunities, we will prioritize real estate quality and attractive economic returns while avoiding unsustainable locations and valuations. Proximity to our customers remains a key driver for store success, so we will actively pursue opportunities in underserved areas, ensure new locations align with the appropriate demographics. As an additional benefit of the partnership, Nova will receive corporate services through SNDL's shared services model, providing the necessary tools to scale several key programs. This includes an integrated loyalty plan to further grow market share and enable additional margin accretive strategies. We look forward to reporting on this program in upcoming quarters and believe that this will be a key differentiator to unlock continued revenue growth and customer retention. Looking over our second quarter results, year-over-year revenue increased 14% compared to the second quarter of 2022 to CAD 64 million. Sequentially, Nova's revenue grew 6% from CAD 60.2 million in the prior quarter. Growth margin for the period was CAD 14.6 million, representing a 38% rise from CAD 10.6 million in the same period of the previous year. Sequentially, the margin grew by 14%, up from CAD 12.9 million in Q1 2023. This marks seven sequential quarters of growth margin improvement from the first quarter of 2022 to the second quarter of 2023. We've seen a significant increase in growth margins, growing from approximately 19% to 23% compared to the second quarter of 2022. This growth is attributed to several factors, including price stabilization in the Alberta market, strategic inventory and pricing review, private label initiatives, and the expansion of the proprietary data licensing arrangements. Private label offerings continue to exceed our performance expectations, with Value Buds private label product representing approximately 7% of the total 28 gram sales and 18% of the 14 gram sales nationwide. Nova's goal is to disrupt and strengthen the cannabis retail market by promoting a wide range of cannabis products at everyday best value prices and encourage greater migration of customers from the illicit cannabis market. We continually explore new concepts to bring this vision to life, including our latest venture, Firesale Cannabis. Pricing stabilization marks a significant opportunity to unlock additional revenue growth, and in April of 2023, Nova introduced its new concept, Firesale Cannabis, which offers deep discounts to support increased product turnover. While we're able to stabilize pricing through the industry, this gives all retailers and licensed producers the opportunity to grow margin share.... we must collectively consider the overall health of the industry and explore niches that can be leveraged for its benefit. Currently, we have two fire sale locations open, with additional stores scheduled to open in Alberta and Ontario. To further address market conditions and challenges, we're committed to fostering a collaborative relationship with regulators and business leaders to enhance the economic vitality of our sector. As we near the five-year milestone of recreational legalization in Canada, we have the necessary data and proof points to substantiate the need for regulatory reform, which better supports the economic security and future growth of the sector. We look forward to being an active participant in the regulatory process to better align the economic interests with public health and safety. Nova will continue to explore all paths which solidify our future success, and we will look forward to expanding our operational and financial scale to the close of the Nova reorganization. Our results today add weight to our strategy, and I look forward to scaling these tactics through the second half of the year. I will now turn the call to Cam Sebastian to review our full financial results of the quarter. Thank you, Marcie. Good morning, everyone. Before we discuss Nova's second quarter 2023 financial results, I want to remind you that all amounts discussed today are in Canadian dollars, unless otherwise stated. Certain of the quarterly and yearly comparisons I will be referencing are comparisons to the prior quarters or measured against the previous year. Sequential, quarterly, and yearly comparisons may provide an additional context considering Nova's rapid growth and expansion over the past two years. In the second quarter of 2023, as Marcie highlighted, sales increased 14% compared to the second quarter of 2022 to CAD 64 million. Compared to the first quarter of 2023, sales increased 6%. Total revenue growth highlights the expansion and growth in our business from 74 stores at January 1, 2022, to 92 stores currently. Same-store sales continue to improve, with average annualized sales of CAD 2.9 million from stores that have been open for at least 1 year. Gross margin for the quarter was CAD 14.6 million, up CAD 4 million, or 38% from CAD 10.6 million in the second quarter of the prior year. This represents 2 consecutive quarters of gross margin increases of more than 35%. Second quarter sales revenues include CAD 2.7 million from proprietary data licensing sales, which have no direct associated costs, a 73% increase from Q1 2023. These revenues represent the initial results of enhancing our data licensing offerings to partners, and we anticipate further expansion in the scope and scale of this program. Gross margin as a percentage of sales before data licensing revenue was 19.5% for Q2 2023, compared to 19.3% in Q1 2023 and 16.8% in Q2 of 2022. These margin increases highlight Nova's ongoing capitalization on select opportunities for accretive margin expansion in key trade areas. Overall margin strategy and performance continues to reflect the brand's strategy to sell good cannabis more affordably to its customers. Adjusted EBITDA, defined as operating profit before depreciation, impairment, transaction, restructuring, and other costs in Q2 2023, was CAD 5.5 million, a record for the company, and an increase of CAD 2.3 million from CAD 3.2 million in Q1 2023. This reflects the results of higher revenues at higher margins. In Q2 2023, the company recorded net earnings of CAD 1.0 million, compared to a CAD 1.4 million net loss for Q2 2022. Now turning to liquidity and capital resources. In Q2 2023, cash provided by operating activities was CAD 2.6 million, compared to CAD 1.4 million used in operating activities in Q1 2023. The change in cash from operating activities reflects the continued success of our strategic path to sustainable profitability. During the quarter, cash flows related to investing and financing activities were not significant other than the completion of investments in three additional stores. The next phase of capital expansion will be approximately 32 stores expected to be acquired through the Nova SNDL strategic partnership. Nova has an uncommitted revolving credit facility with our partner, SNDL, with a commitment of up to CAD 15 million. As of today, Nova is fully drawn at CAD 15 million on the revolving credit facility. Pending the close of its strategic partnership with SNDL, the new revolving credit facility will provide up to CAD 25 million of additional liquidity. Currently, the company has approximately CAD 5 million of cash on hand, adequate liquidity, and is generating positive cash flow. The revolving credit facility's maturity date was extended to August 25th, 2023, to align with the anticipated closing of the strategic partnership. We are very pleased with Nova's second quarter results, particularly the growth in revenue, adjusted EBITDA and positive earnings, as well as our trajectory towards sustainable profitability. Now I would like to turn the call back to Marcie for closing remarks. Thank you. In closing, I would like to thank the entire Nova team for their significant contributions. Our people are the catalyst to our success. Despite the challenges posed by a constantly evolving and unpredictable market, their innovative thinking, perseverance, commitment, and enthusiasm are the driving forces behind our achievements. I am proud of our growth across key financial metrics. However, it's equally as important to recognize the indispensable role played by our teams in ensuring our overall success. Employee turnover is strikingly high in the cannabis space, and our ability to nurture and develop our employees is also a key driver in our strong operational fundamentals. Looking ahead, I look forward to reporting on our third and fourth quarters following the close of the SNDL Nova transaction and as we continue to expand our margin growth strategies. I will now pass the call back to the operator and open the floor for analyst questions. Thank you. We will now begin the analyst question-answer session. To join the question queue, you may press star then one on your telephone keypad. You will hear a tone acknowledging your request. If you are using a speakerphone, please pick up your handset before pressing any keys. To withdraw your question, please press star then two. We will pause for a moment as callers join the queue. The first question comes from Ty Collin with Eight Capital. Please go ahead. Hey, good morning, guys, and congrats on the really outstanding result here. My first question, Marcie, I'm just wondering if you could elaborate a little more on what you're seeing out there in terms of the competitive landscapes in Alberta and Ontario. Are you starting to see more capacity exit those markets? Maybe you could just speak to what made you comfortable taking a little more price this quarter. Yeah, absolutely. Thanks, thanks for the question, Ty. What we've talked about this in the previous quarters as well, we're starting to see some real contraction in Alberta. Certainly no secret that we've seen some, you know, some very public contractions in the country fairly recently. We're seeing what we had always said what we thought was going to happen, you know, at the point where people had to really start to renew leases when we came very close to the five-year anniversary of legalization, seeing the market contract, and that is in fact happening. We're still seeing as much M&A and inbounds as much as we have been in the past. In terms of feeling comfortable with moving forward, with the margin strategy, I mean, it's been in the works for, for quite some time. We've just been very strategic about how we've moved margins. We've been thoughtful about making sure that we're not, you know, that we're moving the right products at the right time, listing the right products at the right time. I think that, you know, we've also really had enough time to really figure out what it is that the Value Buds customer is looking for. So all those things in combined is what, in combination, is really what's made us comfortable moving forward. You know, Ontario is still, you know, still some room for, for growth there, but Alberta, we're certainly seeing the contraction. Okay, great. Thanks for that. You touched on the margin strategy, so maybe I'll follow up on that. Obviously a really impressive gross margin result this quarter. I mean, you pretty much hit the target levels you were talking about around the RTO, sitting around where Alcanna used to be at. How much upside is there to gross margins from where they are today, I guess, from data sales, private label pricing, et cetera? What do you think margins could ultimately settle to in the medium term? Yeah, I mean, I'll, I'll draw it back and, and say, you know, we, we did exactly what we said we were going to do. We performed exactly as we said we were going to. Certainly we're, we're proud of that. Again, it goes to figuring out exactly what that customer is looking for and what that... You know, we're, we're in a situation today that is different than the situation we were in a year ago, where we were still just trying to figure out, you know, how to delight the customer, how to make sure that we were providing the best possible experience, the best possible products. I think that we've done that. By doing that, that's really also given us some room to start to look at, you know, how we, we play with margins, how we play with the categories, and the segments within the categories. You know, I, I don't think we're done. I think we're still focusing a little bit on Ontario right now and bringing that closer to Alberta. We know you'll see, that's what I would expect that you'll see when we, you know, talk again in a couple of months. I do think there's still a few more rooms. There's, you know, certainly more room on the private label side. We'll be launching some new products here in the next little while, which was also some upside from a private label perspective. Certainly still some runway in our perspective. Okay, great. Thanks, Marcie. Then just for my last one, I'm wondering if you could provide just a little bit more color on the delay with the SNDL transaction. Sounds like the hangup is probably with Ontario, if I'm reading between the lines. Is it just a timing thing, or has the province expressed any reservations about the structure itself? Yeah, a great question. Certainly an expected question. There has been no flags or issues raised. It simply appears to be a timing issue, and just in terms of turnaround time. We have not we've not been made aware of any impediments or challenges. Okay, thanks. Appreciate the answers. I'll pass the line. Perfect. Once again, if you have a question, please press star then one. The next question comes from Frederico Gomes with ATB Capital Markets. Please go ahead. Hi, good morning. Congrats on, on the quarter. Thanks for taking my questions. Just on the margin side and on your data licensing revenue, I think you mentioned in the outlook section there, that you expect to increase gross margins by approximately 2 percentage points in each quarter. Can you talk a little bit about that? Seems like a large increase from data licensing. Then does that guidance already bakes in, you know, the new stores from the SNDL transaction, which have a sort of a different gross margin profile? Sure. Sorry, Frederico, can you ask the second half of that question again? Did I lose you? Okay, sorry. I'll. I was on mute. Sorry. Yeah, just, just to complement that, no, the, the, the, the gross margin outlook here already considers the new stores coming in from SNDL, you know, given that they have a different gross margin profile. Thanks. Yeah. Okay. Thank you. And good morning, Frederico. A couple of things, and Cam probably also have some, some insight here. From a, the data perspective, before I pass it over, you know, what I'll share is, you know, it took us, it took us some time to figure out what the best, the best data program, possible, or the best data licensing program would be for us. It took us some time to get that right, and I think that we've got it right now. Which is why you're seeing, the increase that you're seeing. Attached to that, you know, really gives us the opportunity to have a little bit of extra runway, and, and again, make decisions, at the store level. Cam, do you wanna talk a little bit about, about the margin on the data program? Yeah. If you look at the run rate implied by the Q2 data revenue that we had, it would add 2% to the margin. Given the call it restructuring of our data program offerings, the uptake's been very high, so we expect that to in fact accelerate as we go through the rest of the year. Quite conservatively, I would say that Q2 is a low end on what we'll see for data revenue on a quarterly basis going forward. then Okay. In terms of the question, in terms of the stores, the, the 33 stores that we'll be adding, you know, I think that we'll see, once we've closed the transaction and, or are really operating and moving forward with those stores, I think you'll probably see, a bit of, you know, the, the margin profile evolve, to be a little more similar to our current offerings. Got it. Okay, thanks for that. On, on Firesale Cannabis, just any update on the economics there now that you're planning to, to increase that, that concept and open two new stores? What are you seeing and how, how profitable is that, that, banner? Yeah, the Firesale banner, we, you know, we're really focused on testing that banner. We really do believe that that gives, you know, is a benefit to the entire industry. We also think that, you know, there's a number of benefits to Firesale, including, you know, sorting out the oversupply, you know, working through what's currently sitting in the, the warehouses, and being able to make some room for, again, building, you know, product assortments and offerings that customers are really looking for. I'd say we're very much still in the testing phase, and, and starting to, you know, figure out exactly what that model looks like. Much like when we converted the stores to Value Buds in the beginning, we're first on a new idea. Moving forward with that, you know, a lot of testing is still happening, so we'll certainly be able to give you a better sense of, you know, of, of how it's, of how it's working and, and if, you know, if we're able to prove out our hypothesis. Cam, anything to add? No, that sums it up, Marcie. Thank you. Just the last one here, on your cash flow. Very positive there, obviously, and it seems like you, you've already reached a positive free cash flow at this point. Just thinking about that and thinking about the SNDL transaction happening, do you expect any sort of bumps in free cash flow as you sort of integrate those new stores and, and make, make some changes to operations? Should you expect the, the, you know, free cash flow to remain in the positive side, as you go forward? I would say we're we're not expecting any bumps. If anything, the, the, the SNDL Nova transaction is accretive to cash flow because of certain, certain of the terms, particularly the relief from management fees. That is not really of concern to us at this point. Okay. That, that's great. Thank you very much, and congrats again. Thanks, Frederico. That is all the questions that we have for today, and this concludes today's conference call. You may disconnect your lines. Thank you for participating, and have a pleasant day.