Light at the end of the B2B tunnel

NEWS Third quarter results from B2B software company FreeMarkets indicate that it will hit profitability a quarter ahead of schedule. The fourth quarter ending January 31 should now be profitable. The company, which makes e-sourcing software, turned in losses far lower than Wall Street estimates. Losses came in at $1.6m, a far cry from the same period last year when losses were an astronomical $12.3m. The company's CFO last quarter reiterated that FreeMarkets would continue to watch its costs very closely. In addition, large companies continue to use FreeMarkets' e-sourcing auctions for big purchases.