3M reported record first-quarter sales of $7.5 billion, up 2.4 percent year-on-year. On a segment basis, sales increased 8.6 percent in Industrial and Transportation, 5.5 percent in Safety, Security and Protection Services, 4.3 percent in Consumer and Office and 2.0 percent in Health Care. Sales declined 3.4 percent in Electro and Communications and 11.8 percent in Display and Graphics, both impacted by the consumer electronics industry. On a geographic basis, sales grew 8.4 percent in Latin America/Canada, 6.3 percent in the United States and 0.1 percent in Europe. Sales declined 1.9 percent in Asia Pacific. First-quarter net income rose four percent year-on-year to over $1.1 billion. “We are off to a very good start in 2012 with record first-quarter sales and strong earnings,” said Inge Thulin, 3M president and CEO. “3M employees everywhere did an outstanding job of managing in a challenging environment for growth.”