3M recently announced its results for the first quarter of 2022. Sales reached $8.8 billion, a decrease of 0.3% compared to the 2021 quarter. Organic sales in the 2022 first quarter increased 2% year-on-year.
“In a challenging global environment, 3M delivered a strong start to 2022 with solid growth, operating margins, and robust cash generation,” said Mike Roman, chairman and CEO. “In response to feedback from our shareholders and to provide additional clarity on the strength of our underlying business performance, starting in the first quarter we are reporting adjusted earnings to exclude costs for significant litigation. These included, as we communicated on March 30th, the announced additional investment related to Zwijndrecht, which resulted in a 26-cent charge, along with costs related to other significant litigation of 13-cents in the first quarter. Excluding the Zwijndrecht investment our financial outlook for 2022 remains unchanged.
“We continue to prioritize actions to better serve our customers while managing supply chain and inflationary challenges. Our balance sheet remains strong and we continued to invest in capital expenditures and R&D to support long-term growth and advance our sustainability commitments, while also returning significant cash to shareholders. Looking ahead, our teams will continue to focus on improving our operational performance and delivering value for our customers and shareholders.”
Additional details are available at www.3m.com.