By Brenda O’Farrell
Investing.com – Shares of Canadian marijuana grower Aurora Cannabis Inc (TSX:ACB)(NYSE:ACB) were halted in mid-afternoon trading Thursday after the company announced CEO Terry Booth is stepping down and staff layoffs would be announced.
The stock fell more than 5% in both Canada and the U.S. on the day.
The cannabis company is the latest in a growing string of companies in the sector to see top executives leave since the beginning of 2020. Aurora’s plan to cut staff also follows on the heels of another pot grower this week, which trimmed its workforce to lower costs. On Tuesday, Tilray Inc (NASDAQ:TLRY) announced it had cut its workforce by 10%.
Tilray’s job cuts, which affected a little more than 140 workers, is part of a global restructuring, the company said in a statement earlier this week.
Booth is the second big name to leave Aurora in the past few months. In December, Chief Commercial Officer Cam Battley, a prominent company spokesman, resigned. Earlier today, the company announced executive chairman Michael Singer would take over interim CEO.
In the past year Aurora stock has dropped more than 72% on the S&P/TSX and slightly more than 73% on the New York Stock Exchange. It closed yesterday at US$2.00 (C$2.665).