Lifestream Technologies Inc., of Post Falls, reduced its net loss substantially in its third fiscal quarter through a combination of cost-cutting measureswhich included some layoffs and a reduction in salaries and hoursand a higher profit margin on its redesigned, lower-priced home cholesterol monitor.


The company posted a net loss of $1.8 million, or 6 cents a share, for the quarter ended March 31, compared with a loss of $4.4 million, or 20 cents a share, in the year-earlier quarter.


Lifestream also trimmed its loss from operations, to $1.1 million from $2.9 million in the year-earlier period.


The companys sales declined, however, due mostly to its inability to fund a comprehensive marketing campaign for the redesigned consumer product, says Brett Sweezy, Lifestreams chief financial officer.


Sales in the most-recent quarter were about $649,000, down 26 percent from the first quarter last year.


During that earlier quarter, Lifestream spent a significant amount on a marketing campaign, and this year, none of that marketing was taking place, Sweezy says. With a product like this, marketing is everything.


Lifestreamwhose auditors warned last year that they had substantial doubt as to the companys ability to continue as a going concernsays its seeking long-term financing so it can undertake a broad marketing campaign and raise consumer awareness of its product.


Sweezy notes that financial markets seem to have stabilized if not improved after clamping down in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and the national economic decline.


Lifestream eliminated four jobs in the third quarter, and now employs 25, it says in its third-quarter earnings report filed with the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission.


The company employed 41 at the end of the third quarter last year.


Also during the quarter, managers took a 33 percent pay cut, while other employees annual salaries were cut by 10 percent, the earnings report says. Hourly employees had their workweeks cut by 10 percent, it says.