If they would have been profitable without these assets as either a liability or cash flow item on balance sheet - I think that counts as profitable.
Eg - If you're in the printing business and profit 500k but buy a 750k printer that you don't need to be operationally profitable but will help you be MORE profitable in future years - you lost money but you're still soundly profitable
Comments
This is a pretty funny definition of profitable isn't it?
Sure, we're profitable, if you don't count a bunch of the money we spent this year...
If they would have been profitable without these assets as either a liability or cash flow item on balance sheet - I think that counts as profitable.
Eg - If you're in the printing business and profit 500k but buy a 750k printer that you don't need to be operationally profitable but will help you be MORE profitable in future years - you lost money but you're still soundly profitable