Shares of 3M Co. MMM, 6.82% were ahead 0.7% in premarket trading Tuesday after the industrial company reported mixed quarterly results while announcing the planned spinoff of its healthcare business.
The company posted net income of $78 million, or 14 cents a share, compared with $1.5 billion, or $2.59 a share, in the year-prior quarter. 3M took a $1.2 billion pre-tax charge related to the resolution of litigation involving Combat Arms Earplugs. On an adjusted basis, 3M reported earnings per share of $2.48, down from $2.75 a year earlier, while analysts tracked by FactSet had been anticipating $2.65 a share. Sales fell to $8.70 billion from $8.95 billion and reflected a negative impact from foreign-exchange rates of 4 percentage points. The FactSet consensus was for $8.57 billion in sales. The company cut its forecast and now expects -2.5% to -0.5% sales growth for the full year, whereas its prior expectation was for positive growth of 1% to 4%. Additionally, the company now anticipates $10.30 to $10.80 in full-year adjusted EPS, compared with a prior forecast for $10.75 to $11.25. “Looking ahead, we updated our adjusted full-year expectations largely due to the strength of the U.S. dollar and uncertain macroeconomic environment,” Chief Executive Mike Roman said in a release. “We remain focused on innovating for customers, driving operational improvements and advancing our environmental stewardship – while positioning 3M for the future through our plan to spin off our Health Care business and resolve Combat Arms litigation in a manner that is efficient and equitable”