biz briefs before 5-22

Coffee group meeting for workshop

The Kona Coffee Farmers Association will conduct a suckering/selection workshop from 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday at Bob Nelson’s Lehuula farms in Kainaliu.

Nelson will lead the discussion. Topics to be discussed will include selecting which suckers to remove and which ones to allow to develop into new verticals and what are the proper techniques and tools to use. Proper selection is important to keep the balance of the tree with enough verticals developing, but not too many.

Participation is free for Kona Coffee Farmers Association members and $10 for nonmembers, creditable toward membership application.

Call Mary Lou Moss at 329-4035 for directions to the farm or more information.

HP net income jumps 28%; raises outlook

SAN FRANCISCO — Hewlett-Packard Co.’s net income jumped 28 percent in the latest quarter as stronger demand for computers is helping to heal a battered technology industry.

The company also raised its 2010 forecast.

The results mark a continued acceleration in profit at the world’s No. 1 maker of personal computers and printers. Although HP had been making money even during the height of the recession, its net income has been getting smaller each quarter. But for three straight quarters now, net income has been growing.

The company earned $2.2 billion, or 91 cents per share, in the three months ended April 30, its fiscal second quarter. It earned $1.7 billion, or 71 cents per share, in the same period last year.

Excluding special items, it earned $1.09 per share. Analysts expected $1.05 per share on that basis.

Revenue rose 13 percent to $30.8 billion, better than the $29.8 billion that analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected. In the same quarter a year earlier, revenue was $27.4 billion.

For 2010, HP is now predicting profit of $4.45 to $4.50 per share, excluding special items.

By local and wire sources