Carpinteria, California-based MetaCreations Corp, the organization that came out of the merger of MetaTools Inc and Fractal Design Corp (CI No 3,172), has warned profits and revenues for the fourth quarter will down on market expectations. The visual computing software company anticipates earnings per share will be between $0.01 and $0.04 for the three months to December 31, compared to a figure of $0.07 the previous year. Revenue will fall to somewhere between $16m and $17m compared to $15.9m last time. The figures do not include charges associated with the merger and MetaCreations is attributing its financial shortfall to significantly lower original equipment manufacturer and licensing sales than it had banked on. Shares in the company had hit a low of $6.25 when we went to press, a figure far removed from last year’s high point of $19.50.
