Roanoke-based Luna Innovations announced Thursday that first-quarter financial results improved on a 26 percent jump in revenues.

Luna lost $1.9 million in the period ending March 31, down from the $2.7 million loss the company reported in the same quarter a year ago.

That represents 17 cents per share in 2008, versus 27 cents per share in 2007.

A high-tech company that develops and manufactures products for the health care, telecommunications, energy and defense markets, Luna said revenues rose to $8.9 million for the quarter from $7.1 million.

In a conference call with analysts Thursday, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Kent Murphy focused on the company's notable developments and contracts of the past few months.

Murphy pointed to the National Cancer Institute's selection of Luna's MRI contrast agent candidate for study, a $1.9 million contract with the Office of Naval Research for shape-sensing technology, and a discovery that Luna's nanomedicine prototype aids in the growth of new hair follicles in hairless mice as signs that the company is headed the right way.

As the company moves away from technology and development and toward product licensing, revenues from product and licensing grew 30 percent for the quarter to $2.3 million.

Dale Messick, Luna's chief financial officer, said the company continues to focus on cost control as well as revenue growth.

Luna ended the quarter with $11.2 million in cash on the balance sheet, compared with $12 million at the end of 2007. Last year, Luna's cash assets fell by about $4 million during the quarter, Messick said.

While officials said they expect Luna to lose an additional $1.7 million to $1.8 million in the second quarter, Murphy said he expected to see a profitable quarter by the end of 2009.

"We are on track to reach our goal of profitability," Murphy said.

Shares of Luna, which announced its earnings following the market's close Thursday, fell 15 cents in trading to $7.