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3M’s profit grew 10 percent in third quarter

3M Co., maker of Scotch tape, Post-it notes and a range of industrial products, said earnings for the third quarter rose 10 percent. The company raised the lower end of its earnings guidance for the full year.
/ Source: The Associated Press

3M Co., maker of Scotch tape, Post-it notes and a range of industrial products, said earnings for the third quarter rose 10 percent. The company raised the lower end of its earnings guidance for the full year.

Net income rose to $853 million, or $1.10 per share, for the three months ended Sept. 30, compared with $775 million, or 97 cents per share, a year earlier. Costs related to the company’s acquisition of Cuno Inc. reduced earnings for the latest quarter by 2 cents per share.

The adjusted earnings of $1.12 per share were 4 cents better than the mean estimate of analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial.

Sales increased 8.3 percent to $5.38 billion from $4.97 billion.

Robert S. Morrison, 3M’s interim chairman and CEO, called the results outstanding.

“We demonstrated once again that 3M’s business model, combining innovation with operating discipline, can drive solid sales growth and consistent double-digit earnings per share increases,” he said in a statement.

3M also raised the lower end of its outlook for the year by 4 cents per share, projecting earnings excluding items of $4.24 to $4.25 per share. For the fourth quarter, the company expects to post a profit of $1.02 to $1.03 per share, with sales rising 4 percent to 7 percent, excluding acquisitions.

Analysts are expecting the company to earn $1.04 per share for the fourth quarter and $4.24 per share for the full year.

“We expect global demand for our products to remain strong, and our productivity and pricing initiatives to help offset raw material and energy cost pressure,” said Patrick D. Campbell, senior vice president and CFO.

Net income for the first three quarters was $2.44 billion, of $3.13 per share, up 7 percent from $2.27 billion, or $2.84 per share, in the same period of 2004, on sales of $15.84 billion, up 6 percent from $14.92 billion in the first three quarters last year.