3M Sales Rise From Personal-Safety, Home-Improvement Products
27 October 2020 - 11:01PM
Dow Jones News
By Dave Sebastian
3M Co. said its sales rose for the September quarter as it
gained from personal-safety and home-improvement products, though
profit fell as expenses grew and demand for products serving
industries affected by the Covid-19 pandemic continued to
decline.
The Saint Paul, Minn., manufacturer on Tuesday said its sales
rose 4.5% to $8.35 billion for the third quarter. The company had
expected sales of $8.2 billion to $8.3 billion, and analysts polled
by FactSet had expected $8.31 billion. Comparable local-currency
sales rose 0.9%.
The company posted a profit of $1.41 billion, or $2.43 a share,
compared with $1.58 billion, or $2.72 a share, in the same period
last year. Excluding items, earnings were also $2.43 a share,
topping analysts' expectations.
At the company's safety and industrial business, which include
personal-safety products, sales grew 6.9% to $3 billion. Comparable
local-currency sales rose for personal safety, roofing granules and
automotive aftermarket products but declined for industrial
adhesives and other products.
Consumer-product sales, which include home improvement, grew
5.6% to $1.4 billion as customers continued to concentrate their
activities at home during the pandemic. Within the segment,
stationery and office-supplies sales fell on a comparable
local-currency basis.
Health-care sales, which include medical and surgical supplies,
grew 26% to $2.2 billion. Transportation and electronics products
fell 7.4% to $2.3 billion, with automotive and aerospace products
among those leading the decline.
Operating expenses grew to $6.44 billion from $5.98 billion.
The company sees October sales to be flat to up low-single
digits from the same month last year. It didn't provide other
financial outlook due to Covid-19 uncertainty but said it would
continue to report monthly sales for the current quarter.
Write to Dave Sebastian at dave.sebastian@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
October 27, 2020 07:46 ET (11:46 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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