CHICAGO (Reuters) - 3M Co set a 2011 profit forecast that could top Wall Street expectations, saying strong growth in emerging markets including India and Latin America would offset more tepid results in the developed world.
The diversified manufacturer, which has been on an M&A tear this year, also said it expects to continue that buying spree next year and plans to spend up to $3 billion on acquisitions.
3M, which makes products ranging from Post-It notes to the optical films used in television screens, said on Tuesday it expects 2011 profit of $6.17 to $6.37 per share excluding one-time items, on revenue of $29 billion to $30.5 billion.
Analysts, on average, had looked for profit of $6.20 per share on revenue of $29.15 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Minneapolis-based 3M said it expects organic sales to grow 5.5 to 7.5 percent, driven by 10 to 12 percent growth in emerging economies.
It warned that "persistently high unemployment" in the United States, coupled with a growing savings rate among U.S. consumers, would hold down results there.
3M said it sees more sales potential in Latin America than in China. It said India and Latin America were "gathering momentum in China-like fashion."
So far in 2010, 3M has announced nearly a dozen acquisitions, spending nearly $2.5 billion in four deals it has disclosed.
The purchases have taken 3M, which already has a broad lineup of consumer, industrial and medical products, into new businesses like biometrics and electronic people-monitoring, and bolstered its presence in others, like healthcare.
3M shares were up 25 cents to $87.13 in premarket trade.
Several major U.S. manufacturers are set to lay out their 2011 expectations to Wall Street this week. Executives from General Electric Co's
(Reporting by James B. Kelleher, editing by Dave Zimmerman and John Wallace)
