Cyanotech’s losses
By Russ Lynch
deepen on lower sales
Star-Bulletin
Cyanotech Corp. today reported a net loss of $765,000, or 6 cents a share, for the three months through March 31, the last quarter of its fiscal year. In the 1998 final quarter, the company had a loss of 85,000, or 1 cent a share.
Net sales for the latest quarter, $1.8 million, were down 18.2 percent from $2.2 million in the year-earlier quarter.
The company, which produces dietary supplements and other specialty products from microalgae grown in Kona ponds, said the reduced performance came from lower sales of its Spirulina Pacifica, a nutrient-rich food supplement.
Prices were down because of competition from foreign and U.S. producers, said Gerald R. Cysewski, Cyanotech chairman, president and chief executive.
Operations were downsized during the quarter and that should cut costs in the future, he said.
For its full year, Cyanotech had a loss of $2.6 million on sales of $6.7 million, compared with a loss of $300,000 on sales of $7.6 million in the previous year.
In other news, Cyanotech said it has signed a deal to produce its NatuRose astaxanthin, a red pigment used to color pond-farmed fish, for the large Norwegian company, Norsk Hydro ASA.
