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Cyanotech Corp., a Hawaii firm making nutritional supplements from microalgae, suffered a $1.3 million loss during the three months ended June 30 amid production problems.
It was the second straight quarter of microalgae production difficulties for the company, which said production is now back to a more normal level.
Kona-based Cyanotech ceased production of the spirulina microalgae from April to mid-May after unusually cool, cloudy and rainy weather led to small algae that was difficult to harvest. Though the company had spirulina inventory, production plummeted 76 percent, and sales during the three months ended June 30 fell 19 percent to $7.1 million compared with $8.8 million in the same period last year.
The company’s $1.3 million loss in the recent quarter compared with a $501,000 profit a year earlier. The production problem also contributed to a $1 million loss in the prior quarter ending March 31.
Cyanotech said the process to adjust nutrient levels for the microalgae took longer than previously but that the problem has been addressed.
“The algae is now responding favorably and yielding more normal levels of production,” Gerald Cysewski, Cyanotech’s founder and chief scientific officer, said in a statement.
Cyanotech stock took a hit after the financial results were released Monday before the stock market opened. Shares in the company dropped to a 52-week low of $3.50 from $3.68 on Friday.
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