In investor jargon, it therefore has huge operating leverage: the initial start-up costs for hardware and software were high, but since break-even each new client's revenues have been almost pure profit.
Moreover, once the start-up burns through that initial grant, there is little outside capital available so it must become profitable, attract an investor from outside the country, or shut down.
There are economic reasons why BABs underwriting fees may have started out high and then come down: underwriters took on risk with a new product and had to bear start-up costs and devote resources to educate investors for their initial offerings.