3M Warns of Drop in 4th-Quarter Profit

Minnesota Mining & Manufacturing Co., reversing a forecast made only two months ago, said its fourth-quarter profit would drop by about 10% because of slower-than-expected sales and unfavorable foreign currency exchange rates. The St. Paul, Minn.-based diversified U.S. industrial giant makes a vast array of products ranging from Post-it Notes to flexible computer circuits. 3M joined several other Dow Jones industrial average companies that issued warnings that earnings won’t meet expectations. 3M said the expected drop in fourth-quarter earnings excluded one-time items, but it did not specify what those might be. Analysts were expecting on average an earnings jump to 96 cents, according to First Call Corp. 3M’s gloomy prediction sent its shares down $2.38 to close at $71.38 on the New York Stock Exchange.