Sales Essentially Flat for 3M in 2016 Third Quarter
3M recently reported third quarter 2016 earnings.
3M recently reported third quarter 2016 earnings of $2.15 per share, an increase of 4.9% vs. the third quarter of 2015. Sales were $7.7 billion, flat year-on-year in dollar terms. Organic local-currency sales decreased 0.8%, while acquisitions (net of divestitures) added 0.3% to sales. Foreign currency translation increased sales by 0.5% over the 2015 third quarter.
Operating income was $1.9 billio,n and operating income margins for the quarter were 24.7%, up 0.4 percentage points over the prior year’s third quarter. Third quarter 2016 net income was $1.3 billion. The company’s operating cash flow was $1.9 billion, contributing to conversion of 117% of net income to free cash flow. 3M paid $670 million in cash dividends to shareholders and repurchased $774 million of its own shares during the quarter.