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Liberty Health Sciences sends swift rebuttal of short seller with solid Q3 financials to back it up

Having been swept up in the Aphria debacle recently, Liberty Health Sciences Inc. (CSE:LHS) (OTCQX:LHSIF) put out a swift and solid rebuttal to the short seller attack released by Hindenburg Research on Thursday. Playing offense, Liberty Health called out Hindenburg for their attempt to “manipulate Liberty’s share price through a series of unconfirmed allegations.”

Liberty’s quick denial came in string contrast to Aphria’s wait-and-see approach earlier in the week, a move that caused many investors to lose faith in the company, as well as many analysts to review their overall call on the company. By contrast, Liberty appears to be jumping in front of the situation, easing the minds of worried investors, as well as the markets as a whole.

“The Report contains a number of factual errors and outdated information,” read the company’s statement. “As cited in the Report’s disclaimers, its authors stand to benefit financially by manipulating Liberty’s stock. Investors should exercise caution in relying on the statements contained in this Report. Liberty takes the unconfirmed allegations contained in the Report very seriously and will provide updates as they relate to this matter in due course. Liberty is committed to good corporate governance and transparency.”

Third quarter revenues see a significant increase

It helps that on the following day, Liberty Health released their quarterly financials, showing a significant increase in sales revenues as compared to the prior year. Even from the previous quarter, revenues increased by 45 percent.

Liberty brought in $3.2 million for the quarter, with total revenues of $6.5 million for the fiscal year-to-date. According to a statement, those numbers are attributed to the company’s improvement on returning patient count and the expanding dispensary base. Moreover, partnerships with brands such as PAX and Mary’s Medicinals have contributed to such strong growth as well.

“We are happy with the progress we are making as we continue to move forward on both dispensary openings and operational capacity,” said George Scorsis, CEO of Liberty Health Sciences in a statement. “Liberty remains committed to growth and operational excellence across Florida and to potential expansion opportunities in other states.”

While patient count increased an impressive 46 percent for the quarter, the real focus was on opening new dispensaries. The company opened three additional dispensaries over the last quarter, now having seven total, along with six delivery hubs. They plan to open another seven by February 2019 which will give them 14 across Florida, making them a dominant player in the state.

Liberty also made headway in the construction of their Liberty 360 facility, with expectations of finishing in 2019. They currently have 20,000-square-feet of cultivation space at the facility as with another 24,000-square-feet at the original property in Alachua. There’s also plans to add 80,000-square-feet of cultivation space by early 2019.

“Our cultivation team is doing an excellent job and we continue to get amazing yields from our operations,” said Lewis Swarts, VP Operations of Liberty Health Sciences in a statement. “The automation we have introduced into our processing operations is paying dividends as we are able to keep up with the increase in demand from our growing patient base.”

The company plans to move into Ohio as well, by the end of March, as the company has secured a 10,000 square foot processing facility.

“Liberty is committed to bringing the same high-quality offerings to Ohio as we have in Florida,” said Scorsis in a statement. “With the knowledge base gained over our last year of operation, we believe we have the team and tools to continue to succeed.”