"We're tending toward profitability, and in the long run, we're going to do a better job for the community," he said.

Royalties can be a burden when a franchisee is struggling toward profitability in the first few years.

CDnow has been struggling to increase sales and move toward profitability.

More often than not they are a last desperate lunge toward profitability, and in most cases the "Closed" sign goes up within a couple of months.

Cutting back its capacity is likely to mean more revenue for competitors, nudging them toward profitability.

In her years as a business executive, she nudged a division with heavy losses toward profitability, according to two executives who have seen the accounts.

Production would be market oriented and geared toward profitability.

But the road toward profitability is still rocky.

The business kept expanding, with no eye toward profitability.

But some executives at Lear's said they felt that the magazine, which had always operated in the red, was edging toward profitability.