Harley’s profits rev up

Harley-Davidson Inc.’s third-quarter profit surged 20 percent, boosted by higher gross margin and brisk sales of its brand-name motorcycles and accessories.

The Milwaukee-based company on Wednesday also projected continued growth in demand for its motorcycles, resulting in a wholesale unit target of 339,000 motorcycles in 2005, a 7 percent increase above the 2004 target.

Harley posted earnings of $229 million, or 77 cents a share, for the third quarter ended Sept. 26, up from $190.1 million, or 62 cents a share, in the third quarter a year earlier.

The company operates a manufacturing plant in Kansas City, Mo.

International

Canadian regulators OK Coors, Molson merger

Canada’s Competition Bureau said Wednesday it had no objection to the proposal to merge brewers Molson Inc., of Montreal, and Adolph Coors Co., of Golden, Colo.

A spokesman said the agency reviewed the proposed deal, announced last July, and did not find any reasons to block it.

“We reviewed it and it raised no issues under the Competition Act,” Tim Weil, spokesman, said.

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission gave its nod to the deal last week.

With these administrative hurdles behind them, the brewers expect their joint proxy circular filed Sept. 18 to be cleared by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission by mid-November.

It would then be submitted to Quebec Superior Court and mailed to Molson shareholders. A vote by Molson shareholders is tentatively scheduled for the week of Dec. 13.

If two-thirds of both classes of shareholders vote in favor, the two brewers would together become the third-largest beer maker in North America.

Internet

PayPal service suffers

Most members of the online payment service PayPal should be able to log on to the Web site after five days of intermittent service outages and furious repair efforts, the company said.

PayPal made “good progress” in restoring service by the peak evening usage hours, the eBay Inc.-owned company announced late Tuesday.

PayPal is a common method of payment for buyers on eBay. Users began experiencing some glitches on Friday following a software upgrade to the PayPal system, eBay officials said. Ebay has reassured its users that their account data and personal information have not been compromised.

Banking

Commerce earnings rise

Kansas City, Mo.-based Commerce Bancshares reported an 18 percent increase in third quarter earnings on Wednesday.

Commerce earned 93 cents per share during the third quarter, up from 79 cents per share during the same period a year ago. Net income totaled $62.5 million, up from $54.9 million during the same period a year ago.