LONDON (ShareCast) - (Sharecast News) - Shares in consumer and industrial products manufacturer 3M were under pressure ahead of the bell on Tuesday after the group fell short of fourth-quarter profit expectations and announced it would be cutting as many as 1,500 jobs as part of a restructuring programme.
The Scotch tape and Post-it note maker said net income fell to $969m, or $1.66 per share, from $1.35bn in the same period a year earlier.

Excluding non-recurring items, adjusted earnings per share fell to $1.95 from $2.31, below consensus for $2.11.

3M said sales rose 2.1% to $8.11bn, on par with expectations on the Street.

The St Paul-based company said it would be implementing a restructuring programme aimed at annual savings of $110m-120m - with job cuts, which make up roughly 1.6% of the group's global workforce, being made across all of its business groups and geographies. The restructuring brought about a $134m charge in the fourth quarter.

Looking forward, 3M expects full-year earnings per share of $9.30-9.75, right in the middle of consensus estimates of $9.59 per share.

As of 1315 GMT, 3M shares were down 2.49% in pre-market trade at $171.25 each.

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