3M Reports Lower Quarterly Profit; Cuts Outlook

3M said Thursday that fourth-quarter profit and sales fell due to the economic downturn, and the diversified manufacturer cut its 2009 outlook.

The company, whose products range from Scotch tape to optical films for liquid crystal displays, posted earnings of $536 million, or 77 cents per share, down from $851 million, or $1.17 per share, a year earlier.

Excluding restructuring expenses and other special items, however, profit was 97 cents per share, beating analysts' expectations of 93 cents, according to Reuters Estimates.

3M forecast 2009 earnings of $4.30 to $4.70 per share, down from a previous range of $4.50 to $4.95, based on an assumption that organic sales volume would fall 5 percent to 9 percent.

Sales fell 11.2 percent to $5.5 billion.

The St. Paul, Minnesota-based company is a bellwether of the U.S. economy because of its broad lineup of businesses.

"We are responding to lower demand with aggressive cost management and operational discipline,'' Chief Executive George Buckley said in a statement. The company said it would reduce capital expenditures by 30 percent in response to lower demand and has already cut 2,300 jobs in the fourth quarter.

3M shares were upslightly in early morning trading.

At Wednesday's close, the shares were down about about 33 percent from their year high of $83.22 in April, slightly less steep than the 36 percent decline in the Dow Jones industrial average, of which it is a component.

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