Lexaria Releases Annual Letter from the CEO

In This Article:

KELOWNA, BC / ACCESSWIRE / January 24, 2024 / Lexaria Bioscience Corp. (NASDAQ:LEXX),(NASDAQ:LEXXW) (the "Company" or "Lexaria"), a global innovator in drug delivery platforms is pleased to provide this annual letter from CEO Chris Bunka as a strategic update to all stakeholders.

CEO LETTER TO STAKEHOLDERS

According to the Wall Street Journal, near the end of 2023, there were 446 companies listed on the Nasdaq that were trading under $1 and risking being de-listed; compared to nearly nil in 2021.

It was a tough year for microcap companies, which are often too early-stage to have profitable operations and withstand the harsh realities of the investment banking and finance industries: capital was much harder to come by in 2023 than at any time in recent years.

Considering the alternatives, we can at least breathe a sigh of relief and say, "we survived" and, in fact, made considerable advancements.

While we made strong progress on the intellectual property front and signed a new corporate client from our newly created nutraceutical subsidiary, we faced real challenges in the capital markets that negatively affected shareholder value and overwhelmed our progress in other areas.

I always try to be as communicative as possible to all Lexaria stakeholders and so herein please find my thoughts related to our plans for 2024. (All dates within this letter refer to calendar periods, not fiscal periods.)

CAPITAL MARKETS and SHAREHOLDERS

XBI is the S&P biotech index. It closed the final trading day of 2022 at 82.98; and the final trading day of 2023 at 89.29: a theoretical gain of 7.6%. I say "theoretical" because, if not for a rally during the last 3 weeks of the year in relatively few mid-cap biotech stocks, the index would have closed in a losing position. Combined with the regional banking crisis in the spring of 2023, that did not foster a positive environment for raising capital for nanocap companies. Thus, the devastation across nano-cap sectors as noted above by sub-$1 share prices.

Lexaria had to raise capital during 2023 to fund continuing operations and, thankfully, we were able to do so at a time when many small companies were not able to accomplish even that. But Lexaria shareholders paid the price with the worst development we have experienced at any time in the last several years: a horrific decline in stock price associated with raising capital. Lexaria management felt that was a manipulative, punitive experience that had us all feeling quite upset due to it being unrelated to other real-world and positive corporate events.

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