Maplewood, MN-based industrial manufacturing giant 3M posted its 2015 fourth and full-year earnings on Monday, led by further sales and profit declines due to weaker demand for consumer and industrial goods.
Adhesives, industrial coatings, and Post-it notes maker 3M reported a Q4 revenue of $7.3 billion, down 5.5 percent year-over-year, while profit of $1.04 billion was a 12 percent drop. Both sales and profit beat analysts' expectations, however.
3M's organic sales, which exclude foreign exchange impacts, fell 1.1 percent. Currency headwinds negatively impacted total sales by 5.8 percent in Q4.
Sales fell across all five of 3M's business segments in Q4 – Industrial, Safety and Graphics, Health Care, Electronics and Energy, and Consumer.
3M's Industrial segment had a Q4 revenue of $2.5 billion, down 6.3 percent year-over-year. Organic sales declined 1.8 percent, while currency headwinds negatively impacted sales by 6.2 percent. Operating income decreased 11.6 percent from last year. Sales grew declined in the U.S., but grew in EMEA, Latin America/Canada, and Asia Pacific.
3M's Safety and Graphics segment had Q4 sales of $1.3 billion, down 5.3 percent year-over-year. Organic sales declined 2.5 percent, while currency headwinds negatively impacted sales by 7.4 percent. Operating income of $282 million decreased 1.1 percent from last year.
For the full year, 3M posted a 2015 revenue of $30.27 billion, down 4.9 percent from 2014's $31.82 billion, while 2015's profit of $4.83 billion was down 2.5 percent from 2014's $4.96 billion.
In October, 3M announced plans to cut up to 1,500 jobs as part of restructuring,
