Energy crop developer Ceres Inc. on Thursday reported yet another quarterly loss, though the company did better than analysts expected. The Thousand Oaks company reported a net loss of $17.7 million (-17 cents a share) for its fiscal third quarter ended May 31, compared with a loss of $9.3 million (-38 cents) in the same period a year earlier. Revenue fell more than 62 percent to $800,000. Analysts on average expected a net loss of 32 cents a share on revenue of $500,000, according to Thomson Financial Network. Ceres has struggled to find a market for its genetically engineered sweet sorghum seeds to make ethanol in Brazil. Sales have been lower than expected, and the company has not announced a profit since going public in 2012. However, the company said in its earnings report that ethanol yields from the season were more than 35 percent higher on average than the previous season, according to company calculations. Ceres Chief Executive Richard Hamilton said the company improved its execution in the field, giving him confidence for the future. “Moving forward, we believe we can use the success of this season to build greater confidence in the crop and generate additional momentum behind our ongoing commercialization activities,” he said in a statement. Shares closed down 5 cents, or 6.7 percent, to 69 cents on the Nasdaq.