3M Chairman, President and CEO Inge G. Thulin, highlighted 3M’s progress toward realizing its vision and strategic objectives at today’s Annual Meeting of Stockholders held at the River Centre in St. Paul.
Thulin discussed the company’s efforts to improve portfolio prioritization, to better align its businesses with customers, and to increase investments in R&D to accelerate growth. “As we work to create the future of 3M, innovation remains at the center of our plan,” said Thulin.
Thulin told shareholders that the first quarter in 2013 produced solid results with sales at a record $7.6 billion. Earnings per share were up slightly year over year to $1.61. In the quarter, 3M returned $1.25 billion of cash to shareholders via dividends and share repurchases, and announced the company’s 55th consecutive annual dividend increase.
“We are working to build an even stronger future for 3M,” said Thulin. “We will focus on fully realizing the opportunities before us, on winning in the marketplace, and on making 3M the driving force of innovation and success.”
Preliminary Shareholder Voting Results
3M shareholders today elected each of the 11 nominees to the company’s Board of Directors for a one-year term that expires at the 2014 Annual Meeting by the vote of the majority of votes cast:
- Linda G. Alvarado, president and CEO, Alvarado Construction Inc.
- Vance D. Coffman, retired chairman and CEO, Lockheed Martin Corp.
- Michael L. Eskew, retired chairman and CEO, United Parcel Service Inc.
- W. James Farrell, retired chairman and CEO, Illinois Tool Works Inc.
- Herbert L. Henkel, operating partner, Advent International Corp.
- Muhtar A. Kent, chairman and CEO, The Coca-Cola Company
- Edward M. Liddy, partner, Clayton, Dubilier & Rice LLC
- Robert S. Morrison, retired vice chairman, PepsiCo Inc., and former interim chairman and CEO, 3M
- Aulana L. Peters, retired partner, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP and former Commissioner of the Securities and Exchange Commission
- Inge G. Thulin, chairman, president and CEO, 3M
- Robert J. Ulrich, retired chairman and CEO, Target Corp.
Shareholders ratified the appointment of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP as 3M’s independent registered public accounting firm for 2013.
Shareholders approved, on an advisory basis, executive compensation.
Shareholders rejected the stockholder proposal on stockholder action by written consent.
Shareholders rejected the stockholder proposal on prohibiting political spending.
3M also will disclose the final voting results on each item of business properly presented at the Annual Meeting in its Current Report on Form 8-K to be filed with the SEC.
About 3M
3M captures the spark of new ideas and transforms them into thousands of ingenious products. Our culture of creative collaboration inspires a never-ending stream of powerful technologies that make life better. 3M is the innovation company that never stops inventing. With $30 billion in sales, 3M employs 88,000 people worldwide and has operations in more than 70 countries. For more information, visit www.3M.com or follow @3MNews on Twitter.
Forward-Looking Statements
This news release contains forward-looking information about 3M's financial results and estimates and business prospects that involve substantial risks and uncertainties. You can identify these statements by the use of words such as "anticipate," "estimate," "expect," "project," "intend," "plan," "believe," "will," "target," "forecast" and other words and terms of similar meaning in connection with any discussion of future operating or financial performance or business plans or prospects. Among the factors that could cause actual results to differ materially are the following: (1) worldwide economic and capital markets conditions and other factors beyond the Company's control, including natural and other disasters affecting the operations of the Company or its customers and suppliers; (2) the Company's credit ratings and its cost of capital; (3) competitive conditions and customer preferences; (4) foreign currency exchange rates and fluctuations in those rates; (5) the timing and market acceptance of new product offerings; (6) the availability and cost of purchased components, compounds, raw materials and energy (including oil and natural gas and their derivatives) due to shortages, increased demand or supply interruptions (including those caused by natural and other disasters and other events); (7) the impact of acquisitions, strategic alliances, divestitures, and other unusual events resulting from portfolio management actions and other evolving business strategies, and possible organizational restructuring; (8) generating fewer productivity improvements than estimated; (9) unanticipated problems or delays with the phased implementation of a global enterprise resource planning (ERP) system, or security breaches and other disruptions to the Company's information technology infrastructure; and (10) legal proceedings, including significant developments that could occur in the legal and regulatory proceedings described in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2012 and its subsequent quarterly reports on Form 10-Q (the “Reports”). Changes in such assumptions or factors could produce significantly different results. A further description of these factors is located in the Reports under "Cautionary Note Concerning Factors That May Affect Future Results" and "Risk Factors" in Part I, Items 1 and 1A (Annual Report) and in Part I, Item 2 and Part II, Item 1A (Quarterly Report). The information contained in this news release is as of the date indicated. The Company assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained in this news release as a result of new information or future events or developments.
3MMedia Contact:Jacqueline Berry, 651-733-3611orInvestor Contacts:Matt Ginter, 651-733-8206orBruce Jermeland, 651-733-1807
