Cyanotech Corp. swung to a fiscal fourth-quarter profit as sales of its nutrition and health products made from microalgae climbed.

The company reported net income of $181,000, or 3 cents a share for the three-month period ending March 31. A year earlier it had reported a loss of $5.32 million, or $1.02 a share, as it recorded a multi-million-dollar impairment charge.

The Kailua-Kona based company has been trying to staunch annual losses by editing its product line, letting go workers and hiring a new chief executive officer and president. The company lost $1.14 million for its 2008 fiscal year, which came on the heels of a $7.43 million loss a year earlier.

"The past fiscal year has been challenging for Cyanotech," said Andrew Jacobson, who recently replaced Gerald Cysewski as CEO and president.

"The company endured increasing costs and experienced production shortfalls."

Cyanotech reported revenue in the quarter rose to $3.41 million, or 47 percent higher than a year earlier as it refined marketing of products made from microalgae grown at its 90-acre facility. The company said working capital at the end of the quarter was $3.1 million, or about $270,000 less than a year earlier.

The company released its results after the close of regular trading, during which its shares slipped 1 cent to $1.60 each.