GATINEAU, Que. -- Cannabis producer Hexo Corp. (HEXO.TO) sold $5.2 million worth of recreational cannabis during the first two weeks of legalization, driving its revenue in its latest quarter up by more than 500 per cent from a year earlier.

The Quebec-based producer reported $6.7 million in revenue during the three-months ended Oct. 31, up from $1.1 million of medical pot sales during the same period a year ago.

The bulk of the revenue during the first quarter of its 2019 financial year came from recreational pot after Canada legalized it on Oct. 17, with 90 per cent of the sales generated in Quebec and 10 per cent in Ontario and British Columbia.

Hexo's adult-use sales during the first two weeks totalled more than the licensed producer's $4.9 million in medical use sales in its entire 2018 financial year.

However, Hexo also saw its net loss during the latest quarter grow to $12.8 million compared with a loss of $1.9 million during the quarter a year earlier.

The loss came as the company's operating expenses soared to $22 million, up from $2.8 million in the three months ended Oct. 31 in 2017, as it spent $11.7 million on marketing and promotion.

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