Dais' losses continue

Net sales more than doubled for Odessa-based Dais Analytic in the third quarter, but the company's net losses also grew. Dais' quarterly net loss of $555,692 is 27% higher than last year, despite $952,374 in net sales, a 130% year-over-year increase.

The larger loss was a result of higher selling, general and administrative expenses, as well as a higher cost of goods sold. Gross margins fell to 19% this year, compared to 37% in the third quarter of 2009, a company release showed.

Ongoing product development might be hurting Dais' margins. The company is working to bring NanoAir, a new product focusing on energy recovery from HVAC units, to commercial markets in 2012. (Those efforts were recently boosted by a $680,000 grant from the Department of Energy.)

Dais lost $1.7 million on $2.4 million in sales through the first nine months of 2010. It lost $1.4 million on $1.1 million in sales last year.

Dais Analytic develops energy- and resource-saving installations for existing appliances using nanotechnology. In April, the firm said it would hire an additional 200 employees to help fulfill a $48-million contract to provide water filtration systems to CAST Systems Control Technology Co. and Genertec-America.