Cyanotech posts first profit in six years

By Sean Hao
Advertiser Staff Writer

For the three months ended Dec. 30, the company earned $109,000, or a penny a share, versus a loss of $180,000, or a penny a share in the year-ago period. That marked Cyanotech's first profit since the first three months of 1998.

Third-quarter sales rose 22 percent to $3.02 million, compared with sales of $2.47 million in the third quarter of fiscal 2003. That also was the highest quarterly revenues for the company since the last three months of 1997 when Cyanotech generated $3.35 million in sales.

Cyanotech, which employs about 65 people, was one of the state's earliest high-tech hopes when it launched in Kailua, Hawai'i, in the mid-1980s. However it has since struggled to achieve consistent profits. The company attributed the stronger results to a greater mix of sales of its dietary supplements, including anti-oxidant BioAstin and NatuRose, which is used as a feed additive for sea bream.

"We are committed and determined to continue our efforts in sustaining profitability and growth in future periods," said Gerald Cysewski, Cyanotech's chairman, president and chief executive.

Through the first nine months of the fiscal year Cyanotech was still in the red, though losses narrowed significantly. The company lost $42,000 compared with a loss of $1.51 million, or 9 cents a share, through the first three quarters of fiscal 2003.

In advance of the results, which were released after the markets closed, shares of Cyanotech closed up 6 cents at $2.15 a share on the Nasdaq SmallCap Market. The company's shares had been trading at about 50 cents a share as recently as November.

The Nasdaq SmallCap Market threatened to de-list Cyanotech last year because its share price was below $1. Nasdaq pulled back from that decision in December after Cyanotech shares stayed above $1 for 13 consecutive days.

Reach Sean Hao at shao@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8093.