NATIONAL

Home builder Toll Brothers sees profits tumble

Luxury home builder Toll Brothers Inc. said Wednesday its third-quarter profit tumbled, hurt by writedowns and higher-than-expected cancellations as the housing downturn and credit concerns continue.

Toll Brothers saw its steepest home-building revenue declines in Western states, including Colorado, Arizona, California and Nevada, followed by those in the North, mid-Atlantic and South.

Earnings for the three months ended in July sank to $26.5 million, or 16 cents a share, from $174.6 million, or $1.07, a year earlier.

The company was forced to write down property at a cost of $88.5 million, or 54 cents a share, compared with $14.6 million, or 9 cents, a year ago. Excluding writedowns, earnings were 70 cents a share.

Sales fell 21 percent to $1.21 billion from $1.53 billion in the prior year.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial were looking for a loss of 2 cents a share, excluding writedowns, on revenue of $1.15 billion.

COMMISSIONS DOWN As more and more institutions move toward electronic trading systems and away from traditional single-stock transactions, brokers' commissions are down for the first time in three years.

According to a report by consulting firm Greenwich Associates, total U.S. brokerage commissions held steady at about $10.8 billion for the 12-month -periods ended in the first quarters of 2005 and 2006, but fell to about $10.3 billion in the 12-month period ended in the first quarter of this year.

Greenwich Associates said 30 percent of single-stock U.S. equity trading was done electronically by institutions so far this year, up from 23 percent in the prior 12 months.

DUBAI GAMBLES A holding company for the Persian Gulf state of Dubai has laid down a big marker on the Las Vegas Strip - a $5 billion investment that gives it a chunk of MGM Mirage and 50 percent of a massive entertainment complex the casino operator is building.

Dubai World will pay $2.7 billion for half of the 76-acre CityCenter complex under construction in the heart of the Strip, and buy up to $2.4 billion in MGM Mirage Inc. stock.

BANKS BORROW Four major banks said Wednesday they each borrowed $500 million from the Federal Reserve's discount window, lending weight to the central bank's efforts to restore liquidity to tight markets.

In going public with the moves, Citigroup Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co., Bank of America Corp. and Wachovia Corp. each stressed they have "substantial liquidity" and the ability to borrow money elsewhere.

The borrowings, at least in part, seemed meant to reassure investors' jitters about the credit crunch rattling Wall Street.

In a joint statement, the latter three banks said they decided to borrow the money to demonstrate "the potential value of the Fed's primary credit facility" and encourage its use by other banks.

LOCAL

Aztek Networks closing $7.5 million in Series B funding

Aztek Networks, a Boulder-based provider of Emergency Stand Alone switching products, on Wednesday announced the closing of $7.5 million in Series B funding. The financing was led by the Telecommunications Development Fund , a previous investor.

QWEST CONTRACT Qwest Communications said Wednesday that it has won a two-year, $15 million telecommunications contract from the state of Ohio.

The contract includes mobile communications services for state employees, long-distance and toll-free services, and such emergency services as the Amber Alert hotline and identity theft hotline. Services will be provided to up to 800 state agencies and cooperative members.

ECONOMY

Late loans symptom of subprime strain

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said residential mortgage delinquencies drove late loan payments to U.S. banks and thrifts to their biggest increase in 17 years.

Loans more than 90 days past due rose 10.6 percent to $66.9 billion, the largest quarterly rise since 1990, the FDIC said in its Quarterly Banking Profile released Wednesday.

"Banks continued to face two key challenges - a difficult interest-rate environment and ongoing weakness in residential mortgage lending," FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair said in a statement.

The report reflects the growing strain lenders are facing as the collapse of the subprime mortgage market roils the banking industry.

At least 90 U.S. mortgage companies have halted operations or sought buyers since the start of 2006, according to Bloomberg data.

Loans more than 90 days overdue grew 36.2 percent from $49.1 billion in the second quarter a year ago, the largest 12- month increase since 1991.

Residential mortgage loans 90 days past due increased 12.6 percent to $27.5 billion in the second quarter from $24.4 billion in the first quarter.

THIS JUST IN...

• Boulder-based Vista Ventures added Lisa Reeves as general partner.

• Denver-based XELR8 Holdings Inc., a provider of functional foods, beverages and nutritional supplements, has appointed Daniel Rumsey and Anthony Petrelli as independent members to its board of directors.

• BlueStreak Connect, a company that specializes in managed software solutions for small and midsize public safety agencies, has moved its headquarters from Littleton to 2525 16th St. in Denver to accommodate the company's expanding staff.

• Randy Graff of Graff's Turf Farms in Fort Morgan received the President's Leadership Award from Turfgrass Producers International for his exemplary dedication and performance to the organization.

• Jacque Wedding-Scott was appointed city manager of Centennial.

• Gov. Bill Ritter appointed Kevin Marchman, of Denver, Mark J. O'Connor, of Littleton, and Samuel Betters, of Loveland, to serve on the Colorado Housing and Finance Authority's board of directors until July 1, 2011.

• Vectra Bank Colorado will close its Thornton branch at 3907 E. 120th Ave. on Wednesday and reopen it at 4151 E. 136th Ave. on Sept. 4.

• Domestic Divas Inc., a Denver-based cleaning and concierge company, will donate 15 percent of its profits generated during the month of September to the Susan G. Komen, Denver metro affiliate. For more information, go to domesticdivasinc.com.

• Northern Trust NA, a provider of investment management, financial planning, fiduciary and banking services, added Kirk D. Lynch as a vice president and senior investment manager to its Denver office.

• The Denver Foundation has moved its offices to 55 Madison St. in Denver.

• Boulder-based Thistle Community Housing appointed Mary Duvall Roosevelt as chief executive officer.

• The Creative Alliance, based in Lafayette, has been retained by Calvin Enterprises to provide strategic planning, marketing, public relations and design services for its St. Michaels Town Square mixed-use development.

• Denver-based advertising agency McClain Finlon hired Grace Lee and Jay Buckner.

• Furniture Row Companies of Denver plans to open four home furnishing and bedding stores in Sherman, Texas.

Rocky staff and wire reports

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