Sands, who said the bank had enough capital, said: "We recognise our recent performance has been disappointing and we are absolutely determined to get back on to a trajectory of sustainable, profitable growth, delivering returns about our cost of capital".
Meanwhile, the idea (or at least the hope) is that as China and other emerging nations develop, the United States can stay on the profitable forefront, delivering specific high-tech parts to their factories and the latest upmarket foods to their middle class.
He argues that hospitals become more profitable by delivering higher quality care.
"We recognise our recent performance has been disappointing and are determined to get back on to a trajectory of sustainable, profitable growth, delivering returns above our cost of capital," said finance director Andy Halford in a presentation to investors.
Our focus is on moving the group forward so that it can continue to be profitable and deliver sustainable returns to all our shareholders".
While it might be a stretch to say that we are in danger of creating a vast digital wasteland, entertainment of marginal quality dominates commercial attempts on the Internet to reach a mass audience and, sad to say, the most consistently profitable sites deliver pornography.
North America, Diageo's most profitable region, delivered top-line growth, driven by 5% growth in US spirits and wines.
Oracle delivered a profitable return for investors with its $50 million purchase of Crosswise, a Series A-funded developer of technology for identifying people across the different devices they use.
Sanjay Jha, chairman and CEO of Motorola Mobility, stated regarding growth "With a focus on profitable growth and delivering differentiated LTE smartphones and tablets, we expect to achieve profitability in Mobile Devices in the fourth quarter and for the full year 2011".
He also said he provides "runway" – financial support over a lengthy period in which the management can experiment to find a profitable formula for delivering the news.
