Maybe only 25 percent of homebuyers prefer these environment-friendly communities to the average suburban home, Logan said, but the supply is more like 1 percent -- leaving a big, profitable niche.

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According to the lawsuit, Novartis found it was highly profitable to pay pharmacies even 10 percent to 20 percent kickbacks in exchange for switching transplant patients.

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Opacity was profitable, leading to returns of 14 to 18 percent.

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All five are fabulously profitable as measured by EVA margin (economic profit as a percent of sales).

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News Corp. shares are down about 4 percent today as a result of concerns over the viability of the BSkyB deal and the closure of the profitable News of the World.

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It came in at a dismal 35th on Forbes annual rankings of most profitable industries in 2009, well before the health reform law passed, with an average 2.2 percent profits.

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