Zoltek Cos. Inc. narrowed its second-quarter loss to $6,000 from $27.7 million in the same period of 2006 on a 40 percent sales jump, the firm reported Thursday.

For the quarter ended March 31, the St. Louis-based carbon fiber product manufacturer (Nasdaq: ZOLT) reported that its net sales jumped to $36.7 million, up from $26.2 million in the second quarter last year.

Zsolt Rumy, chairman and CEO, said in a statement. "Our strong performance over the first half of the year reflects the contribution of two carbon fiber production lines that commenced operation in January, and continued strong demand for our carbon fibers from the wind energy and other sectors. With the addition of two more carbon fiber production lines that have just been placed in service at our facilities in Hungary, we expect to maintain accelerating sales and improved operating results through the remainder of fiscal 2007."

Company officials reported that the firm's expansion program in Hungary is continuing according to plan. In addition, plans are being prepared to install the basic polymerization and infrastructure for a new precursor facility to increase the precursor capacity to support future aggressive carbon fiber growth.

The recent quarter included a $5.3 million noncash charge related to conversion of convertible debt issued by the company in prior years. Zoltek said the charge doesn't reflect on the operating performance of its business.