BENGALURU (Reuters) – 3M India Ltd reported an 87% jump in quarterly profit on Wednesday, partly helped by strong demand in its transportation and electronics business and price hikes.
Consolidated profit increased to 1.25 billion rupees ($15.14 million) in the quarter ended Dec. 31, from 667.4 million rupees a year earlier. Profit in the ‘Other Income’ category rose 55.9% to 119.9 million rupees.
3M India, which makes everything from ‘Scotch’ tape and ‘Post-it’ notes to power tools and medical products, has been raising prices to offset the hit from surging commodity costs.
The consolidated revenue from operations for the Indian arm of U.S.-based 3M Co rose 20.2% to 9.93 billion rupees.
Revenue from its transportation and electronics business, which makes power tools and cables, grew 31% to 3.94 billion rupees, while profit almost doubled. The segment is the biggest contributor to 3M India’s revenue and profit.
The safety and industrial business came in at a close second, with revenue increasing 16.1% to 3.3 billion rupees and profit rising by more than four times from a year earlier.
The consumer business, 3M India’s smallest, saw revenue decrease marginally by 0.13% to 1.01 billion rupees. This is also the only segment that did not grow year-on-year, revenue-wise.
However, the Bangalore-based company’s total expenses for the quarter grew 12.4% to 8.38 billion rupees, biting into profit.
3M India’s shares rose as much as 2.6% after the results. Shares have risen 5.4% so far this year, following a 10.3% decline in 2022.
($1 = 82.5680 Indian rupees)
(Reporting by Meenakshi Maidas in Bengaluru; Editing by Janane Venkatraman)