3M (NYSE: MMM), St. Paul, Minn., reported first-quarter sales of $8.3 billion, a 7.7 percent increase compared to the first quarter of 2017. Profit was $602 million, a 55 percent decrease compared to the prior year, due to expenses related to the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act as well as a legal settlement. Excluding those items, profit grew 15.7 percent year-on-year.
Total sales grew 15 percent in safety and graphics, 7.1 percent in industrial, 7.1 percent in health care, 5 percent in consumer, and 4.6 percent in electronics and energy.
On a geographic basis, total sales grew 13.7 percent in EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa), 10 percent in Asia Pacific, 4.3 percent in Latin America/Canada, and 3.5 percent in the U.S.
