We just had a presentation by our CTO, who noted a shift in company strategy going forward. We basically had four business units:

• A - produces raw materials, about half of which is sold as a commodity and half is used
• B - high margin product, sale companion to products made from A
• C - service based product serving a region; uses packaged version of product A
• D - service based product serving a region; used bulk version of product A

Segment A is highly volatile in profit based on commodities prices. One year it'll make more profit than the rest of the business, and the next it'll have a net loss. But on average, it has competitive profit, perhaps better than much of the rest of the business, and all of our products use it as a raw material.

Our business strategy was to sell the plant, thus reducing our profit, but also reducing volatility in profit. This makes us more attractive to investors, because investors would rather see a smooth line going up than a constant up and down with an upward trajectory.