Discreet Logic Inc, the Canadian digital imagery company, has warned that it expects revenues for the first quarter to be in the range of $25m to $27m, and earnings per share of between $0.03 and $0.08. The consensus estimate of analysts surveyed by First Call was for earnings of $0.16. The company unleashed a herd of scapegoats including: slower-than-expected sales in Europe; general market anxiety in North America causing delays in capital spending; recent changes in its sales organization leadership; temporary concerns in the advanced systems customer base regarding the acquisition of Discreet by Autodesk Inc – which is expected to close in December – which may have lead to purchasing delays; and the confusion over DTV (digital television) timing and standards. Discreet says it will continue to focus on the market opportunity for the conversion of traditional analog tape-based equipment to digital and insists that its effects and editing products are continuing to perform strongly in the marketplace. The company will report actual results for the quarter on October 29.
