Jittery customers who have failed to confirm orders have left Mitek Systems Inc, the neural imaging company, facing big losses when it reveals its third quarter results on July 23. The San Diego, California company, says it expects the fall in revenue will leave it with losses of between seven and 10 cents per share. Shareholders have had a rocky ride with Mitek, whose document imaging and intelligent character recognition products are geared to a cyclical sector of the market, which is currently on a downturn. Several of our larger OEM and systems integration customers experienced delays in finalising customer orders and contracts, resulting in reduced shipments, said president and chief executive John Kessler. We believe this trend is being experienced throughout our industry. Despite this quarterly revenue shortfall, we continue to believe that the market for our products presents opportunities for growth in our business. That, of course, is the one consolation in fluctuating markets – the customers who don’t return calls in one dismal quarter may be hammering on your door the next. The unpredictability of the company’s business is made worse by the fact that orders tend to be confirmed right at the end of the quarter so bad news arrives too late to cut costs in order to compensate. The company’s web site http//www.miteksys.com contains plenty of advertisements for new staff so, despite the latest dismal news, it is clearly gearing up for extra business in the not too distant future.
