3M Earnings Rise 9 Percent

Monday, October 23rd 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) â€” Third-quarter earnings at 3M Co. were up 9 percent, the company reported Monday, citing a strong flow of new products and strong sales growth in the Asia-Pacific area.

Net income for the quarter was $499 million, or $1.25 a share, up from $459 million, or $1.13 a share, in the same quarter last year. Revenue rose 6.4 percent to $4.25 billion from $4 billion a year ago. Units sold increased 11 percent.

Earnings per share beat by a penny a consensus estimate of analysts surveyed by First Call/Thompson Financial.

Wall Street welcomed the results, sending 3M's share price up 3.7 percent, or $3.25 a share, to $90.50 in afternoon trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

''3M continues to deliver solid, top-line-driven earnings growth,'' said L.D. DeSimone, chairman and chief executive. ``We have good momentum, and we expect to meet earnings expectations for the fourth quarter and next year.''

For the first nine months, net income was $1.46 billion, or $3.64 a share, compared to $1.32 billion, or $3.25 a share, a year earlier. Sales were $12.5 billion, compared to $11.6 billion a year ago.

In a conference call with analysts, Bob Burgstahler, chief financial officer, said 3M continues to be confident about its prospects.

``We expect to have continued double-digit volume growth, driven by new products, close relationships with customers, increased penetration of international markets, and the acquisitions we have already made or announced,'' he said.

During the third quarter, 3M incurred one-time costs of about $118 million, mainly from its decision to phase out some Scotchgard water- and oil-repellant products that contained perfluorooctanyl chemistry because of health concerns. The company expects to have reformulated products out by December. The third-quarter results also included one-time gains of $119 million related to asset sales.

Maplewood-based Minnesota Mining & Manufacturing Co. produces a wide range of products, including Scotch tape, Post-it Notes and products for the electronics, telecommunications, automotive, industrial, consumer and office, health care and safety markets.

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On the Net:

http://www.3M.com