Between 1990 and 1991, revenues fell 20 percent and a meager profit turned into the $12 million loss.

His boat was actually owned by a policeman who shared in the meager profits.

Billy had expected as much, but this meager profit did not diminish the thrill he got from going through the contents of the bag.

Landowners have increasingly chosen to give up tending the soil for meager profits.

But the meager profits were not the only problem.

Today, Padico is a holding company of fairly standard design, modest dimensions and meager profits.

Even those meager profits were wiped out in the third quarter.

A meager profit was eked out through securities trading, but to cover operating costs, the bank had to mortgage its building.

Yet the company lost money through 1994, and reported a meager $18,000 profit for the first nine months of 1995.

But even so, after years of losses or meager profits, auto insurance companies are making money in New Jersey.