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3M 4Q beats estimates
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January 25, 1999: 8:08 a.m. ET
Earnings fall 5% on currency losses; company sees improvement in 1999
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Minnesota Mining & Manufacturing Co. Monday blamed negative currency translations and weakness in international markets for its lower fourth- quarter results.
But the St. Paul, Minn.-based company, maker of Scotch Tape and Post-it Notes, still managed to pull ahead of Wall Street estimates and gave investors a sunnier outlook for 1999.
3M reported net income for the three months ended Dec. 31 of $348 million, or 86 cents per diluted share. The results were down 5 percent from profit of $366 million, or 89 cents a share, in the year-ago quarter.
Analysts expected the company to earn 80 cents a share.
Sales for the quarter reached $3.8 billion, up about 2 percent from last year.
"Our fourth-quarter earnings were negatively impacted by currency effects, modest sales growth and reductions in factory output to better align inventory levels for 1999," said L. D. DeSimone, chairman and chief executive officer.
3M estimates that currency effects cut earnings for the quarter by 5 cents a share, or about 6 percent.
For the year, 3M earned $1.5 billion, or $3.74 per share, down 6 percent from $1.6 billion or $3.88, in 1997.
Sales fell slightly to $15 billion from $15.1 billion.
"During 1998, we encountered a difficult set of challenges -- large negative currency effects, economic contractions in many international markets where we have a strong presence, and softness in a few key U.S. markets," DeSimone said. "We expect to resume earnings growth in 1999, driven by new products, greater productivity gains and tight expense controls."
Shares of 3M (MMM) closed down 1-1/4 at 71-5/16 Friday on the Big Board. 
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