Cyanotech's loss widens to $683,000 in quarter

Kona-headquartered microalgae products firm Cyanotech Corp. today reported a fourth-quarter loss of $683,000, more than four times the loss of $161,000 it reported for the final quarter of its last March 31 financial year.

The latest loss was equal to 4 cents a share, an increase from 2 cents a share in the year-earlier quarter, with 17 million shares outstanding compared to 14 million last year. Fourth-quarter sales of $1.76 million were down 22.5 percent from a year-earlier $2.27 million.

For all of its 2000-2001 fiscal year, Cyanotech had a net loss of $1.07 million, or 7 cents, a share, compared to a loss of $4.49 million, or 34 cents a share, in the previous year.

Full-year sales of $8.04 million were up 8.6 percent from $7.4 million in the previous year.

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[TAKING NOTICE]

PROMOTIONS

>> Bonnie Saito-Manago was named director of management information systems in the Information Technology Services division at Hawaii Pacific University. She will be responsible for management of technical resources and will oversee management information systems employees. Saito-Manago is a HPU graduate. She has also served at the university as associate director of management information systems and as a senior systems analyst.

>> Hawaii.com has named John Denery account executive at the company. He was promoted from administrative assistant. Prior to joining Hawaii.com, Denery was a special education teacher in California and a member of San Francisco-based band The Hi-Fives.

NEW JOBS

>> Tamara Tom has joined ADWorks as a graphic designer. She will be responsible for designing a variety of publications, signs and advertisements for Castle & Cooke Homes Hawaii. Previously, Tom was employed at FireFly as an art director and the Price Design Team as a graphic designer.

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Verizon, RadioShack sign store-within-store deal

NEW YORK >> Verizon Wireless said yesterday it has reached a deal to sell wireless phones and accessories at more than 4,400 stores operated by RadioShack Corp. .

According to a RadioShack spokeswoman, the sections featuring Verizon Wireless products will co-exist with similar "stores-within-a-store" featuring phones from rival Sprint PCS Group, a unit of Sprint Corp. Verizon Wireless and RadioShack said the stores-within-a-store will be launched in May and June of this year.

Napster talks to Microsoft about new platform

LOS ANGELES >> Embattled song-swap company Napster Inc. is talking with many technology companies, including Microsoft Corp., as part of its efforts to design a fee-charging service that pays royalties to artists and record labels, a spokeswoman said Friday.

"Napster has been talking with Microsoft, along with a number of other technology companies, about how several of their products might be incorporated into the new Napster service," the spokeswoman said.

Napster has said it hopes to launch the new version, which it is developing with Bertelsmann AG, by summer.

Britney Spears Web site fixes privacy flaws

WASHINGTON >> Pop star Britney Spears' official Web site has been modified to comply with a federal law protecting children's online privacy, according to an advertising watchdog group.

Children under 13 who visit britneyspears.com will need parental permission before divulging personal information or using interactive features like the message boards, said Elizabeth Lascoutx, director of the Better Business Bureau's children's advertising review unit.

In other news . . .

WASHINGTON >> The Bush administration has chosen Harvey L. Pitt, a prominent corporate lawyer, to be the next chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, officials said. Pitt, a frequent critic of the agency, has represented many of the industries he will now regulate. The 56-year-old Pitt, a Republican, served as the agency's general counsel more than 20 years ago under President Jimmy Carter.