3M Feels Manufacturing Slump And Readies Additional Layoffs -- WSJ
January 29 2020 - 3:02AM
Dow Jones News
By Austen Hufford
This article is being republished as part of our daily
reproduction of WSJ.com articles that also appeared in the U.S.
print edition of The Wall Street Journal (January 29, 2020).
3M Co. posted lower revenue in significant U.S. markets and set
plans for fresh layoffs, the latest manufacturer to exhibit signs
of strain at a time of weakness for the industrial economy.
3M sells its diverse array of products in a wide swath of the
economy, including to consumers, offices, manufacturers and
hospitals.
While the U.S. economy remains strong overall, the manufacturing
sector has contracted for five consecutive months through December.
3M's results on Tuesday showed this divergence. Units that largely
serve the industrial economy posted revenue declines, while sales
in units serving consumers and the health-care industry were
flat.
"The industrial-production-related businesses are a little lower
growth, " 3M Chief Executive Mike Roman said in an interview.
Shares in 3M declined 5.7% to $165.58.
Slow rates of domestic car production, lower shale-drilling
activity and slack demand from China have all weighed on U.S.
manufacturers. Boeing Co.'s decision to first slow and then suspend
production of its 737 MAX jetliner has also been working its way
through the company's supply chain. New orders for capital goods, a
proxy for business investment, fell in December from the previous
month, the Commerce Department said Tuesday.
3M, which makes products as diverse as Post-it Notes and
industrial sandpaper, reported a fourth-quarter revenue decline of
2.6% when excluding currency movements and acquisitions, including
a 2.9% drop in the U.S.
The company said it was eliminating 1,500 jobs as part of a
continuing restructuring to streamline its global operations. 3M,
based in St. Paul, Minn., employs 96,000 people and said last April
that it was cutting 2,000 jobs in underperforming business lines,
such as energy and electronics.
The cuts will save the company as much as $120 million a year,
3M said. It booked a $134 million restructuring charge in the
fourth quarter related to the cuts.
3M also said Tuesday that it received a grand-jury subpoena in
late December related to chemical discharges from a facility in
Decatur, Ala. 3M said chemicals might have been released from that
plant into the Tennessee River, and that it was cooperating with
the investigation by the U.S. attorney's office for the northern
district of Alabama.
The U.S. attorney's office The U.S. attorney's office declined
to comment.
3M said sales in mainland China and Hong Kong increased 0.8% for
the latest quarter, even as the economy slows there. As one of the
largest makers of medical face masks, the company has boosted
production to meet a surge in demand because of the global outbreak
of a coronavirus in China.
"We are ramping up production in all of our facilities around
the world, including in China, to full capacity. Twenty-four-seven
production to meet the demand," Mr. Roman said.
At the same time, 3M said extended shutdowns at factories and
other businesses in China could weigh on demand for other 3M
products. The outbreak gained momentum this month, so the impact to
the company's fourth quarter, which ended in December, was
limited.
Sales in 3M's safety and industrial business fell 2.8% to $2.8
billion for the quarter, and sales in its transportation and
electronics business declined 5.9% -- excluding currencies and
acquisitions. Revenue also fell in the company's aerospace unit,
which makes industrial glues and other products for plane makers.
Revenue in 3M's health-care business declined 0.2%, and increased
0.2% in the company's consumer unit.
The company said sales in the latest quarter rose to $8.11
billion overall from $7.95 billion a year earlier, in part because
of 3M's October completion of its $4.3 billion acquisition of
wound-care company Acelity Inc.
Analysts had expected revenue of $8.11 billion in the quarter,
according to FactSet. 3M reported a profit of $969 million,
compared with $1.35 billion a year earlier.
Adjusted earnings were $1.95 a share. Analysts polled by FactSet
were expecting adjusted earnings of $2.11 a share.
For 2020, the company said it expects earnings between $9.30 and
$9.75 a share. Analysts were expecting the company to earn $9.59 a
share in 2020.
Amber Burton contributed to this article.
Write to Austen Hufford at austen.hufford@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
January 29, 2020 02:47 ET (07:47 GMT)
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