CENTENNIAL, COLO. — Penford Corp. narrowed its loss during the second quarter.

For the quarter ended Feb. 29, the company suffered a loss of $340,000, which compared with a loss of $1,575,000 during the same quarter of the previous year. Sales for the quarter were $86,188,000, up 16% from $74,304,000 during the same quarter of the previous year.

During the quarter the Food Ingredients segment had an operating income of $5,247,000, up 47% from $3,576,000 during the same quarter of the previous year. Sales for the quarter were $24,904,000, up 41% from $17,713,000.

For the six months ended Feb. 29 the company as a whole had income of $252,000, which compared with a loss of $1,239,000 during the same period of the previous year. Sales for the six months were $176,934,000, up 31% from $146,570,000 during the same period of the previous year.