Studio Software of Irvine Plans Initial Public Offering of Stock

Studio Software Corp. of Irvine announced plans for an initial public offering of stock that would raise as much as $4.8 million.

The company, which designs and sells printing software programs for IBM and IBM-compatible personal computers, said it expects to sell a total of 800,000 units of stock and warrants for between $5 and $6 each. Each unit will consist of two shares of common stock and a warrant to purchase an additional share of common stock.

Founded in March, 1982, Studio Software introduced its first product--a so-called desk-top publishing program--in June, 1985. The second program, an upgraded version of Studio’s initial package, was rolled out last month.

In its 1986 fiscal year, ended June 30, the company lost $1.3 million on sales of $942,001. In the 1985 fiscal year, losses were $1.6 million on sales of $93,507. Cumulative losses from the company’s inception through June 30, 1986, were $4.2 million.

In addition, in its prospectus, the company said it anticipates a “substantial” loss in the current quarter due to a slowdown in sales of its initial product and increased operating expenses associated with the introduction of the second software product.