Lastminute said the purchase would help it become profitable as soon as 2003, a year earlier than previously expected.
That crisis has passed, but some analysts are skeptical about Mr. Schacht's forecast that Lucent can become profitable as soon as this year.
"The next step after that is to become profitable as an enterprise in business… towards the end of 2018 or early 2019".
According to Kixeye CEO Will Harbin, the startup has hit its stride over the last 8 months, in which time it became profitable as well as cash-flow positive.
Steyer's Fallon Capital Management, a $33 billion hedge fund, can be expected to benefit greatly, particularly in areas that will become profitable as their website notes "due to a catalyzing event or change in circumstances, including regulatory or legislative change".
Handspring, a maker of hand-held computers, has dismissed about 80 workers, or 20percentt of its worldwide work force, as part of an effort to reduce costs and become profitable as sales decline.
"We had to become profitable, as the government of Ireland plans to privatize the airline," Mr. Foley said.
They've expected recycling to become profitable as raw materials become more expensive, but they're on the wrong side of two historical trends.
Eventually, the firm plans to allow official content providers to sell copyrighted material, picking up a fee in the process.Yet sceptics doubt that these consumer-oriented P2P start-ups can become profitable as stand-alone businesses.
The government also has promised to work to open new markets for Egypt's cotton exports and says that producing cotton will become profitable as international prices rise, luring more farmers into the business.
