The executive chairman of Aurora Cannabis Inc. says his company could become profitable in the second half of this fiscal year under the right circumstances, after missing its own sales forecast in the latest quarter.

“If [there is a] rollout of additional retail outlets in Canada and a successful rollout by Health Canada with regards to the derivative market, we anticipate that going into the second half of this year, we should be able to deliver positive EBITDA,” said Michael Singer in an interview with BNN Bloomberg Thursday.

Cannabis retail stores have been slower to open than what producers were first expecting ahead of recreational legalization last October. In Ontario, for example, only 25 licences were initially granted. However, the provincial government last month released the results of its second cannabis lottery, announcing 42 winners who can apply to run the next wave of shops in the province.

Shares of Aurora Cannabis fell about nine per cent in early afternoon trading after the pot producer reported fiscal fourth-quarter revenue that fell short of its own outlook and a $2.2-million loss.

Aurora reported $98.9 million in net revenue for the quarter ended June 30, up from $19.1 million a year ago but lower than the range of between $100 million and $107 million predicted in company estimates released last month.

The cannabis company also reported an adjusted loss before interest, taxes and depreciation of $11.7 million, an improvement from a loss of $36.6 million in the third quarter.

With files from The Canadian Press