3M reports ‘record’ first-quarter figures

3M has announced its results for the first quarter of the 2007 financial year, with the firm reporting a 6.1 per cent rise in revenues on the same quarter last year to a record $5.9 billion (2.97 billion pounds).

The firm saw first-quarter earnings rise 52.2 per cent on the same period in 2006 to $1.4 billion, while earnings per share rose 58.1 per cent to $1.85. 3M reported a negative impact of 3.8 per cent on the growth of its sales resulting from the sale of its branded pharmaceuticals segment.

In healthcare, the firm saw a rise of 24.4 per cent in sales to $962 million, excluding the impact of the aforementioned divestment, with this sales growth led by its performance in Europe and the US.

George W Buckley, chairman, president and chief executive officer of 3M, said: “Our strategy for achieving higher growth while maintaining superior financial returns is working well, as evidenced by this quarter’s broad-based growth and profitability.”

He added that the firm had confidence in its ability to continue accelerating growth as a result of this strong start to the year.

Last month, 3M Health Care announced the launch of a medical diagnostics business unit aimed at developing products for the detection of treatment-resistant infectious pathogens including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus.