Cyanotech holds onto Nasdaq listing

Hawaiian firm Cyanotech has yet again managed to stave off a delisting from the Nasdaq SmallCap market, meeting requirements for the bid price of $1 per share for a consecutive 10 days in recent months.

The world's largest producer of natural astaxanthin from microalgae, which has not made profits since 1998, said this week that the Nasdaq Listing Qualifications Panel has found sufficient evidence of compliance with the requirements for continued listing on the market.

Cyanotech has been close to delisting since last year but was given an extended grace period to prove its compliance with the minimum bid price requirement for its common stock.

In September the firm requested a hearing to appeal the scheduled delisting and has since managed to demonstrate a closing bid price of at least $1.00 per share for 13 consecutive trading days, allowing it to continue its listing. On December 1, its shares were trading at $1.37.

Cyanotech was formed in 1983 but did not make annual profits until fiscal 1992. However it has been loss-making since 1998 and at the end of fiscal 2003, deficit totaled $13.2 million.

Working capital at the end of March this year had increased on the previous year to $2.4 million but cash has fallen from 1.05 million at the end of 2002 to $579,000 for the 2003 year.

The company recently reported first half losses of $151,000 or ($0.01) per diluted share.

Gerald R. Cysewski, president and CEO, said: "With this issue resolved our company can now put its full attention towards our commitment to achieve sustainable growth and return to profitability.We have made excellent progress during this past year and will continue to keep our efforts focused on our bottom line."