Aurora Cannabis CEO gets $6.7M compensation bump amid falling stock, cost cutting

Aurora Cannabis Inc.'s chief executive saw his annual compensation climb about 38 per cent to $6.7 million in the company's latest fiscal year as its stock dramatically fell and it aggressively cut costs.

Financial filings from the Edmonton-based cannabis company show Miguel Martin earned a base salary of about $590,500, about $3.8 million in share-based options, and almost $1.1 million in option-based awards.

Rounding out his earnings was about $815,000 in non-equity incentive plan compensation and $416,000 in other compensation.

In comparison, he made more than $4.8 million in compensation in Aurora's 2022 fiscal year and about $4.4 million in 2021.

Martin's compensation boost came as Aurora's share price fell by 52 per cent over its 2023 fiscal year, which spanned three quarters because the company changed its fiscal year end.

The cannabis industry has been hampered by a lack of demand, strict regulations and the strength of the illicit market for much of Martin's time as chief executive. To cope, Aurora embarked on a transformation plan that delivered at least $400 million in savings over the last three years.

Despite this, the industry has seen a slump marked by layoffs in the past year at Aurora Cannabis and Calgary-based SNDL.

In 2022, Aurora Cannabis said it was cutting at least 12 per cent of its workforce and shutting down a facility in Edmonton. 

Atlas Global announced in June it was laying off around 50 workers and shutting down a cannabis facility in the hamlet of Gunn, Alta.

SNDL, formerly Sundial Growers, announced in February it was cutting 85 jobs from its facility in Olds.

Michelle Lefler, Aurora's vice-president of communications and public relations, said the company uses a "pay-for-performance approach" and most of Martin's compensation is linked to Aurora's share price and corporate performance metrics, which were either met or exceeded.

"It is important to make clear that long-term incentives granted to executive leadership are entirely linked to the company's share performance," Lefler said in an email.

"Today, the value of these rewards is much lower than the value at which they were originally granted."