Green Thumb's quarterly cannabis sales get New Jersey high

By Rithika Krishna

(Reuters) - Green Thumb Industries Inc posted a more than 14% rise in second-quarter revenue on Wednesday, driven by healthy retail sales in New Jersey and Illinois.

New Jersey doled out licenses for sale of recreational pot to existing medical cannabis operators, including Green Thumb, in April. The state is poised to become one of the largest adult-use cannabis markets on the East Coast.

Eighteen other U.S. states now allow the sale of cannabis for recreational use.

Green Thumb, which operates dispensaries in Paterson and Bloomfield in New Jersey, said new store openings and strong adult-use sales from the state helped the company post revenue of $254.3 million in the quarter ended June, compared to $221.9 million a year earlier.

"New Jersey is the biggest winner in the quarter and we estimate the market to grow in the $2 billion range, about seven times its market size now," Green Thumb Chief Executive Officer Ben Kovler told Reuters.

"Later this year, both Connecticut and Rhode Island will turn on adult-use sales and we are well positioned in both those markets ," he said,.

Green Thumb, one of the top three U.S. weed producers by market value, said the quarter saw an increased traffic in its 77 operating retail stores.

The company's adjusted operating core profit rose 17% to $78.7 million in the quarter from the first quarter.

"Currently the legal industry (cannabis) is in the $25 billion range and the market should be at least three times the size it is today with most of that growth expected to come from new states," Kovler noted.

Net income attributable to the company rose to $24.4 million in the three months ended June 30, compared to $22.1 million a year ago.

(Reporting by Rithika Krishna in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel)