MINNEAPOLIS - 3M Co., maker of Scotch tape, Post-It notes and industrial adhesives, said Tuesday fourth-quarter earnings fell from year-ago results that included a one-time gain.
But adjusted profit exceeded expectations on Wall Street, driven by higher sales of industrial adhesives and healthcare products, particularly abroad.
Its shares slipped 80 cents to $76.64 in morning trading Tuesday.
Net income slipped to $851 million, or $1.17 per share, in the last three months of 2007 from $1.18 billion, or $1.57 per share, in the year-ago period.
The latest quarter was hurt by a charge of $12 million, or 2 cents per share, while the 2006 quarter included a gain of $354 million, or 47 cents per share.
Adjusted profit rose to $1.19 per share. Analysts, whose estimates typically do not reflect one-time items, expected earnings of $1.17 per share, according to Thomson Financial.
Sales gained 7 percent to $6.21 billion from $5.78 billion last year, and surpassed Wall Street estimates for $6.14 billion.
The industrial and transportation unit, which sells adhesives and tapes used in the automotive sector, had 14 percent higher sales of $1.9 billion. The healthcare unit boosted sales by 22 percent to $1.1 billion, led by medical and oral care products.
For the year, profit rose 11 percent to $4.1 billion, or $5.60 per share, from $3.95 billion, or $5.06 a share, in 2006. Annual revenue rose 7 percent to $24.5 billion from $22.9 billion in 2006.
3M reiterated its expectation for 2008 profit to increase by at least 10 percent over the adjusted result of $4.98 per share in 2007.
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