The 2021 financial year was overall a very good one for ASX shares. The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) managed to put on a performance of 24% for the 12 months to 30 June 2021. That makes FY2021 one of the best financial years ever for the Australian share market.
But some sectors inevitably performed better than others. That's capitalism for you. And the sector we're looking at today – ASX cannabis shares – certainly had its fair share of both winners and losers.
So let's check out how this popular sector fared in the financial year that has just passed us by.
Image source: Getty Images
How did the top ASX cannabis shares fare in FY21?
Below is a table of how the ASX's top cannabis shares performed in FY2021:
| ASX Cannabis Share | % Gain/Loss for FY21 |
|---|---|
| Creso Pharma Ltd (ASX: CPH) | 351.6% |
| Little Green Pharma Ltd (ASX: LGP) | 154.3% |
| Botanix Pharmaceuticals Ltd (ASX: BOT) | 107.7% |
| Althea Group Holdings Ltd (ASX: AGH) | (6.3%) |
| Zelira Therapeutics Ltd (ASX: ZLD) | (20.4%) |
| Auscann Group Holding Ltd (ASX: AC8) | (26.7%) |
| Elixinol Wellness Ltd (ASX: EXL) | (29%) |
| Cann Group Ltd (ASX: CAN) | (57%) |
| Ecofibre Ltd (ASX: EOF) | (69.4%) |
As you can see, it was something of a mixed bag. If you were lucky enough to hold Creso Pharma shares over the financial year, you would have enjoyed a very pleasing gain of more than 350%. However, if you were unfortunate enough to have money invested in Ecofibre, you instead would have had to cop a nasty near-70% loss for your time, effort and capital.
Highs or red eyes for ASX cannabis?
While each company had its own individual trials, triumphs and tribulations, it's worth noting this is a sector that often moves in tandem. This is due to the unique but uniform challenges ASX cannabis shares all face. The most prominent of these is, of course, the legal status of cannabis itself.
Whilst recreational use of cannabis/marijuana is still illegal in many countries, including Australia, recent changes have been happening.
Perhaps at the forefront of these changes is the ever-evolving regulatory landscape in the United States. As it currently stands, 18 US states currently allow recreational use of cannabis.
Most recently, we saw the state of New York 'legalise it' back in April. This saw an immediate boost to the values of ASX cannabis shares despite the Australian market implications being limited.There is also debate in Mexico over the potential legalisation of cannabis. If this went ahead, it could open up a market of nearly 130 million people.
Another headache…
On the other hand, ASX cannabis shares have seen some setbacks in this arena as well. Last October, New Zealand held a 'reefer-rendum' on legalising recreational use of cannabis across the ditch. It failed, meaning that, at least for now, recreational use of cannabis remains illegal in the Land of the Long White Cloud. This was a big setback for the ASX cannabis sector here in Australia.
But, as you may have noted, there were some clear winners in this space regardless. As we noted earlier, Creso Pharma was the top performer in its sector.
Creso managed to capture investor attention through its acquisition of Halucenex Life Sciences. Halucenex specialises in psychedelic compounds and stands to benefit if the US state of California legalises psilocybin (the active drug in 'magic mushrooms'). This is still currently being debated in the Californian Congress but investors certainly seem optimistic.
It's also worth noting that some of the worst-performing ASX cannabis shares of FY21 were once known as some of the best performers.
Companies like Althea and Xalra were top-performing companies as recently as last year. But the tide has definitely turned for some of these companies' share prices. Mostly, complications surrounding the pandemic, as well as regulatory issues, are mostly to blame here for the woes of Ecofibre and Cann Group in particular.
