Isle firm to build New Mexico plant

CARLSBAD, N.M. » Waipahu-based Carbon Diversion Inc. plans to break ground next week on a $15 million pilot plant to be built in Carlsbad's industrial park in New Mexico.

Jeff Campbell of the Carlsbad Department of Development Co. says the manufacturing plant initially is expected to bring 65 jobs to the community, with an additional 300 jobs expected within two years.

Carbon Diversion uses a process called “;flash carbonization”; to process green waste, tires and municipal solid waste, turning it into biofuel, electricity and pure carbon to be marketed.

Apple's iPhone sales lift its earnings

CUPERTINO, Calif. » Strong sales of the iPhone helped Apple Inc. lift its quarterly profit 15 percent, well ahead of Wall Street's expectations, despite the global economic downturn.

The company also said that co-founder Steve Jobs still plans to return from his medical leave as scheduled.

“;We look forward to Steve returning to Apple at the end of June,”; Apple's chief financial officer, Peter Oppenheimer, said in a conference call with analysts.

Jobs, a survivor of pancreatic cancer, stepped away from his day-to-day responsibilities as CEO in January.

For the three months ended March 28, Apple's fiscal second-quarter earnings rose to $1.21 billion, of $1.33 a share, compared with $1.05 billion, or $1.16 a share, a year ago. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters had forecast a per-share profit of $1.09.

Sales increased 9 percent to $8.16 billion, topping analyst expectations for $7.96 billion.

Apple said it sold 3.8 million iPhones in the quarter, more than twice as many as a year ago.

Weak economy hurts eBay's net

NEW YORK » EBay Inc. said yesterday the weak economy contributed to declines in both earnings and revenue for the second consecutive quarter, but the online marketplace operator beat analysts' expectations.

EBay earned $357.1 million, or 28 cents a share, in the first quarter, down 22 percent from $459.7 million, or 34 cents a share, in the year-ago period. When excluding items, eBay said it earned 39 cents a share; analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected 33 cents a share.

Revenue fell 8 percent to $2.02 billion.

GM plans to temporarily shut plants

DETROIT » General Motors Corp. is planning to temporarily close most of its U.S. factories for up to nine weeks this summer because of slumping sales and growing inventories of unsold vehicles, two people briefed on the plan said yesterday.

The exact dates of the closures are not known, but both people said they will occur around the normal two-week shutdown in July to change from one model year to the next.

Thousands of workers could be laid off but would still get most of their pay because their United Auto Workers union contract requires the company to make up much of the difference between state unemployment benefits and their wages.