3M screen coatings can enhance color quality. Electronics sales jumped 11% year-over-year in the second quarter. Source: 3M.
Shares of technology and materials supplier 3M (MMM 0.57%) rose as much as 1.8% in pre-market trading today after the company released results for the second quarter of 2014.
3M saw sales rising 5% year-over-year, stopping at $8.1 billion. Earnings increased by 12% to $1.91 per diluted share. Both figures were in line with analyst estimates.
Sales in local currencies declined 2% in the Latin America/Canada segment. Local sales rose in every other geographical area, led by a 6% surge in the Asia-Pacific market. Negative currency exchange effects in Latin America and Asia were largely canceled by favorable currency translation on orders from Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.
All five of 3M's reportable business segments recorded single-digit year-over-year sales improvements. Electronics and energy led the way with just over 6% higher sales. Health care sales were up 5.9%. Within the leading division, electronics revenue rushed 11% higher while energy supplies sat back on 1% growth.
In a prepared statement, 3M CEO Inge Thulin expressed satisfaction with his company's execution in this quarter.
"Strong productivity fueled increased growth investments, and operating margins increased year-on-year to nearly 23 percent," Thulin said. "In addition to a strong operating performance, we are also deploying capital more aggressively to both improve the business and to enhance shareholder returns. On July 16, we announced the acquisition of the remaining 25 percent of our Sumitomo 3M subsidiary in Japan for a purchase price of $885 million. And during the second quarter we paid $2.0 billion to shareholders via a combination of cash dividends and gross share repurchases."
