Lifestream Technologies Inc. says its second-quarter sales were dramatically higher than theyve been during any other quarter in its history, and the Post Falls-based maker of cholesterol-testing devices says it expects double-digit sales growth throughout 2002.


Lifestreams sales were $1.23 million for the second quarter ended Dec. 31, up 40 percent from sales of $880,000 in the first quarter. Comparisons with the year-earlier quarterwhen Lifestream had sales of just $52,000arent appropriate since Lifestream didnt begin selling its flagship consumer-model cholesterol monitor until January 2001.


Lifestream will announce its full quarterly results next month when it files its earnings statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, says Brett Sweezy, the companys chief financial officer. The fledgling company will, at that time, announce a quarterly net loss because its still in the early stages of getting its products onto the market, he says.


The announcement of higher sales pushed Lifestreams shares up 41 percent in two days last week. Last Friday, the day after the company made its announcement, Lifestreams stock was the biggest percentage gainer on the American Stock Exchange, rising 21 percent in one day.


Sweezy says the second-quarter boost in sales is due partly to a holiday-season bump and partly to wider distribution of its consumer-model cholesterol monitor. The company announced a distribution deal in December with CVS Corp., of Woonsocket, R.I., which operates a chain of 4,100 retail drug store locations nationwide. Lifestreams cholesterol monitors also are sold at Eckerd Drug, Longs Drug Stores, Sav-on Drugs, and Osco Drug, as well as at several department-store chains and specialty retailers.


Other distribution deals are pending, Sweezy says. The expectation that Lifestreams product will continue to gain shelf space in the coming year should drive double-digit quarterly growth for the foreseeable future, he says.


The companys target marketpeople who have reason to monitor their cholesterol levelsis big, Sweezy adds.


Fifty-one percent of adult-age American males have elevated cholesterol, he says. Were going to be marketing very heavily on that, including a sales push around Fathers Day, he says.


In addition to its consumer model, Lifestream makes a professional-level cholesterol-testing machine that it markets to doctors offices and pharmacies.