In short

A round-up of today's other finance news in brief

Canadian Imperial profits fall

Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) reported a lower-than-expected quarterly profit on as the bank set aside more money to cover bad loans, sending shares 5.8 per cent lower.

CIBC’s net earnings rose to C$434 million (€280 million), or C$1.02 a share, in its third quarter that ended July 31, from C$71 million, or 11 Canadian cents, a year earlier.

CIBC has expressed a tentative interest in buying a stake in Allied Irish Banks, although it has declined to confirm the deal. – (Reuters)

Gleeson appointed to Ulster Bank board

Communications consultant Eileen Gleeson, who has worked on the presidential campaign  of Mary McAleese and as an adviser to the Ryan family, shareholders in Ryanair, has been appointed to the board of Ulster Bank Ireland and First Active. She already serves on the board of Ulster Bank.

Admiral Taverns in debt talks

Britain’s Admiral Taverns, which owes Irish Nationwide £106 million (€120.8 million), has held debt restructuring talks with Lloyds Banking Group, the pub operator’s accounts showed.

Lloyds declined to to comment on a potential debt deal. Admiral Taverns has become one of Britain’s top operators, largely by buying more than 3,000 pubs from larger rivals. However revenues have suffered as consumers cut spending. – (Reuters)

New US home sales at 10-month high

New US home sales hit their highest level in 10 months in July and orders for long-lasting goods surged, fresh evidence of a modest economic recovery.

The US commerce department said sales of new homes rose 9.6 per cent from June to a 433,000 annual pace, the highest rate since September.

The department said a surge in demand for aircraft pushed durable goods orders up 4.9 per cent, the largest advance in two years. – (Reuters)

Toyota to halt production line

Toyota, the world’s largest car maker, says it will halt a production line in Japan as it looks to cut excess capacity to return to profitability amid an industrywide sales slump.

Car plants around the world are idle or running below capacity as the industry copes with a slide in sales that sent General Motors and Chrysler into bankruptcy and has Toyota headed for a record loss this year. Total cuts could reach 700,000 cars, or 7 per cent of Toyota’s capacity. – (Reuters)

Stockpiles of crude oil lead to price fall

Oil prices slipped yesterday, extending hefty losses from the previous session as rising stockpiles of US crude outweighed positive economic data.

US crude for October fell 62 cents to settle at $71.43 a barrel, after falling $2.32 on Tuesday. Brent crude fell 17 cents to $71.65. The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported that crude stocks rose by 200,000 barrels last week due to a rebound in imports. – (Reuters)