Canadian IT company Hummingbird Communications, supplier of PC Docs and EIP software to many of the world's top law firms, last month issued an earnings warning for the second quarter of the year.
According to a statement on its website, Hummingbird has adjusted its earnings per share forecast. The company predicted earnings of 33 cents to 37 cents per share – down from earlier estimates of 44 cents – on revenues of $57m-$60m (£39m-£41m), for the first three months of the year.
Hummingbird's chairman and chief executive Fred Sorkin said that this was the first time the company had ever had to make an announcement
changing its guidance downwards.
He blamed the move on a downturn in the economy, specifically delayed orders from some of the company's biggest US clients, such as Intel, Lucent and Nortel Networks, for older product lines.
"We have experienced customer delays in orders for our connectivity products, which has resulted in lower repeat sales to these customers this quarter," Sorkin said.
The IT director of an international law firm told Legal IT that developments at Hummingbird would always be an issue for many UK law firms because they were dependent on its document management software.
Courtney Park, IT director at Rowe & Maw – a firm that has made a considerable investment in Hummingbird's EIP software – said: "We are not overly concerned, but we will keep an eye on the situation."