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by Stockwatch Business Reporter

The Canadian Securities Exchange Composite Index gained 4.05 points to 668.73 Friday. Invictus MD Strategies Corp. (GENE) was unchanged at 46 cents on 160,000 shares after releasing its first quarter results. Invictus lost $4.6-million on revenue of $1.6-million in the fiscal first quarter of 2020. Its revenue was up from $1.2-million in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2019 (ended Jan. 31, 2019). It spent $1.3-million on sales and marketing in the quarter, still significant, but well down from the $4.9-million it spent in the previous quarter.

The aggressive spending started in March, 2018, when Invictus hired Gene Simmons, the bassist and co-founder of KISS, as its "chief evangelist officer" to lead the company's marketing efforts. Mr. Simmons, with his international rock star appeal and fame, might have been the cool dude to hire, but he was rather expensive. To acquire Gene-Etics Strains Co. from Mr. Simmons and for his marketing and branding efforts, Invictus agreed to pay $2.5-million (U.S.) in cash and to issue 2.63 million Invictus shares to the rock star. The company also issued 3.94 million shares to Mr. Simmons for a "management services agreement and international licensing agreement." The shares were issued at $1.97. If he still owns the shares, Mr. Simmons has seen them lose over 75 per cent of their value, as Invictus's stock closed today at 46 cents.

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