Safety, Security and Protection Service sales increase 14.1%
3M reported third-quarter sales of $7.5 billion, up 9.6 percent year-on-year. Operating margins were 21.0 percent. Earnings were $1.52 per share, a 1 percent decline versus the third quarter of 2010. The company generated $1.0 billion in free cash flow during the quarter, equal to 94 percent of net income.
Third-quarter worldwide sales growth was 9.6 percent, of which 3.7 percent came from acquisitions, 3.1 percent from foreign exchange impacts, 1.9 percent from organic volume growth and 0.9 percent from higher year-on-year selling prices.