Sorghum Seeds Narrows Ceres’ Quarterly Loss

Ceres Inc. reported a 57 percent decrease in operating expenses for its second fiscal quarter but nevertheless recorded a net loss, the company announced Thursday. The Thousand Oaks agricultural biotech reported a net loss of $1.1 million (9 cents a share) for the second quarter ended Feb. 29, compared with a net loss of $8.1 million ($1.34) for the same quarter a year ago. Net revenue remained relatively unchanged at $351,000 compared to $343,000 for the second quarter in 2015. “Based on the momentum we demonstrated in the second quarter, we remain confident that our pipeline of forage sorghum seed products and future traits can deliver greater value to our customers,” Chief Executive Richard Hamilton said in a statement. “Our forage sorghum business has been growing rapidly, we have repeat orders in hand and our pre-commercial traits are delivering the type of results that could substantially change dairy and feedlot economics.” During the quarter, Ceres debuted new forage sorghum seed products while growing distribution networks. The company anticipates increasing commercial production of certain seed products sometime this year. Shares closed unchanged at 23 cents on the Nasdaq.