Mera heads
back to KonaThe company's loss fell
to $1.8 million in fiscal 2003
on higher revenue
Mera Pharmaceuticals Inc. is planning to reconsolidate its California operations back to Kona on the Big Island following a 2003 fiscal year that saw the maker of nutritional product AstaFactor lose $1.8 million.
The former Aquasearch Inc., which emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization in September 2002, said in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing that its loss in the fiscal year ended Oct. 31, 2003, narrowed 23.4 percent from a loss of $2.4 million in fiscal 2002.
The fiscal 2002 results included a loss of $1.8 million from Aquasearch from Nov. 1, 2001, to Sept. 16, 2002, and a loss of $541,890 from the period of Sept. 17 through Oct. 31, 2002.
Revenue rose 17.2 percent to $776,109 from $662,072 in 2002, which included the combined results of Aquasearch and Mera Pharmaceuticals. Operating costs and expenses fell 5.4 percent to $2.8 million from just under $3 million from the combined operations a year earlier. Mera's operating loss narrowed 11.8 percent to $2 million from $2.3 million.
The company, which has lost $2.7 million since emerging from bankruptcy and $25 million since it was founded in 1988, said it does not intend to renew the office lease of its administrative headquarters in Solana Beach, Calif., north of San Diego. That lease expires in mid-May and the company said it will move all operations to its four-acre production facility at the Hawaii Ocean Science and Technology Business Park in Kona.
Both its administrative and production facilities were previously together at the Kona facility until the company split its operations upon emerging from bankruptcy under new ownership.
Mera said it had 10 full-time employees as of Oct. 31, which represents a 58 percent reduction from the 24 it listed in its 2002 year-end filing. However, Mera said it has begun hiring personnel to support the resumption of production operations and to meet anticipated additional demand.
Mera said its largest customer, Longs Drug, accounts for about 30 percent of Mera's sales but that the company expects that percentage to decrease as a result of an increase in direct sales, distribution through several additional retail chains in Hawaii, the move to distribute internationally and other measures being taken to broaden distribution.
The company also revealed that two third-parties have conditionally committed to invest a total of $265,000 into the company during this calendar year.
Mera, which said it had 700 shareholders as of Oct. 31, has seen its stock price shrink to about 3 cents.
The company, which did not break out its fourth-quarter numbers in its filing, said its $776,109 in revenues in fiscal 2003 were comprised of $377,589 from products, $242,868 from contract services for work on a Department of Energy project and $155,652 from royalties. Royalty revenues, which ended after Jan. 31, included amounts received from another company based on sales of its products.
Mera, which has a licensing agreement to receive royalties on the distribution of AstaFactor in the Chinese market, said initial distribution of its product there was expected to begin during the 2003 calendar year but the required regulatory approval has not yet been obtained.
