3M Annual Meeting Highlights Year of Preparation, Progress and Performance in 2012
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:
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Linda G. Alvarado, president and CEO, Alvarado Construction Inc.
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Vance D. Coffman, retired chairman and CEO, Lockheed Martin Corp.
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Michael L. Eskew, retired chairman and CEO, United Parcel Service Inc.
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W. James Farrell, retired chairman and CEO, Illinois Tool Works Inc.
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Herbert L. Henkel, operating partner, Advent International Corp.
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Muhtar A. Kent, chairman and CEO, The Coca-Cola Company
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Edward M. Liddy, partner, Clayton, Dubilier & Rice LLC
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Robert S. Morrison, retired vice chairman, PepsiCo Inc., and former
interim chairman and CEO, 3M
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Aulana L. Peters, retired partner, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP and
former Commissioner of the Securities and Exchange Commission
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Inge G. Thulin, chairman, president and CEO, 3M
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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.
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