2020 Annual Report
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2020 Annual Report Delivering today, building for a stronger tomorrow 2020 Annual Report Dear shareholders, As the COVID-19 pandemic worsened in March 2020, 3M’s respirator plant in Valley, Nebraska issued a call for help: it needed two dozen 3M engineers and technicians to work on additional manufacturing lines that were already running around the clock. By the next morning, over a hundred 3Mers from across the Midwest had volunteered — at a moment’s notice — to pack up, temporarily relocate and sacrifice time away from family to make a difference. It is inspiring, but it is not surprising. This is 3M. This is who we are and what we do. I have been with this company for more than three decades. 2020 was a year like no other, and I’ve never been prouder of how 3Mers everywhere stepped up to help the world during a unique moment in history. Our response throughout COVID-19 has been guided by our purpose, and shaped by three priorities: protecting our employees, fighting the pandemic from every angle and delivering for our customers and shareholders. Last year, we made more respirators than ever before, while continuing to innovate for customers, invest for the future and advance our values. As a result, 3M is well-positioned to lead through the global recovery and capitalize on market and technological trends that favor our market-leading businesses. That too is an example of who we are and what we do. Mike Roman 3M Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer Ultimately, we have more work to do to build an even stronger, more competitive enterprise. My commitment is for all of 3M to stay relentlessly focused on delivering extraordinary value for all stakeholders who have placed their trust in us — including premium returns Delivering in 2020, for you, our shareholders. building for a stronger tomorrow This letter refers to non-GAAP measures such as free cash flow and net debt that are not otherwise referenced in the accompanying charts/tables. See the Financial Condition and Liquidity section of Item 7 of 3M’s 2020 Annual Report on Form 10-K for further details. 1 Good operational performance Protecting lives in the global in an uncertain environment pandemic With respect to 2020 financial results, the impact Beyond financial results, 2020 was a year in which of COVID-19 and the global economic slowdowns 3M stepped up where we were needed the most. Our varied across 3M. Some areas of our portfolio — company has a unique and critical responsibility in such as personal safety — experienced higher pandemic preparedness and response, and it starts with demand, while others — such as health care an uncompromising commitment to the safety of our elective procedures — faced substantial declines. employees. When the virus broke out, we moved quickly Broadly speaking, we saw many of our end-markets to remote work where possible, while instituting more sequentially improve as we moved through the robust safety protocols in our factories and other facilities. second half of the year and as economies began For 3Mers personally affected, we implemented pandemic to reopen, though of course significant economic support policies to help protect their pay and benefits and uncertainty remains as we start 2021. allow them to take care of themselves and their families. Companywide, organic growth was -1.7%, along with At the same time, we worked to protect the public, earnings of $9.25 per share, or $8.74 on an adjusted including and especially the nurses, doctors and first basis. Our team delivered another year of robust free responders on the front lines. 3M is a longtime leader in cash flow, up 23% to $6.6 billion, with a conversion rate personal safety, with a range of science-based solutions of 123% — demonstrating our ability to perform across for respiratory, face, hearing and fall protection. These economic cycles. We posted a good return on invested include our N95 respirators, which 3M pioneered 50 capital of 18%, along with operating margins of 22%, and years ago, and which we have continuously refined and adjusted operating margins of nearly 21%. Finally, we improved ever since. The bulk of our N95 respirators are returned $3.8 billion to shareholders through dividends manufactured in the United States at plants in Nebraska and share repurchases, and 2020 marked our 62nd and South Dakota; we also have manufacturing facilities consecutive year of dividend increases. in Asia Pacific, Europe and Latin America. Following SARS in the early 2000s, we decided to prepare for future crises by investing in significant respirator surge capacity at our plants. Those investments have enabled us to respond to emergencies such as H1N1, the Japanese tsunami and wildfires. When the world needs us, 3M is there. 3M is committed to being best-in-class in ESG 3M is investing $1 billion over the next 3M is helping shape the future of work by 3M believes that good corporate governance 20 years to become carbon neutral by expanding access to science, manufacturing practices serve the long-term interests of 2050, reduce water use, and improve and skilled-trades careers inside and outside all stakeholders, strengthen the Board and water quality. 3M for underrepresented groups. management, and further enhance the public trust 3M has earned. 3M is one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies as rated by Ethisphere. 2 2020 Annual Report Thus, when COVID-19 emerged in January, we were Investing for the future able to quickly activate our surge capacity and double our production of respirators to support the urgent As we fought COVID-19 on so many fronts, we never public health response. We have since made additional lost focus on taking strategic actions to position investments, and forged partnerships with other ourselves for long-term growth, productivity and value companies and governments around the world, to creation. Innovation differentiates 3M, and last year continuously bring on additional capacity. In total, 3M we invested $3.4 billion in the combination of research produced and delivered 2 billion respirators globally and development and capital expenditures, enabling in 2020, with approximately half in the United States. us to both invent and manufacture unique solutions Today, we are producing respirators at a rate of 2.5 for customers. We found ways to innovate faster and billion per year, a 4-fold increase versus 2019. differently, while driving strong results in our priority growth platforms like indoor air quality, biopharma filtration and automotive electrification. For example, last year we introduced cutting-edge products to improve electric car batteries, one element of our work to support more sustainable vehicle designs. For the full year, our priority growth platforms grew 7%, outperforming the markets they serve. 3M also continued to advance the new, streamlined global operating model that we implemented at the beginning of 2020, a significant step in our transformation. Our new model has enabled us to Our team has also collaborated with law enforcement respond to the pandemic with agility and resilience — and retailers to combat price-gouging, counterfeiting from expansion of respirator production to our ability to and other fraudulent activity. We published our maintain business continuity, strong customer service respirator prices, filed nearly two dozen lawsuits and and the integrity of our supply chain. To further optimize removed thousands of deceptive websites and social our model and streamline our organization, we initiated media posts. We’ve helped identify more than 10 million a series of actions across the company that will reduce counterfeit respirators, protecting healthcare workers annual operating costs by $250 to $300 million. from bad actors. In addition to respirators, 3M has led the fight against COVID-19 in other important ways. Our biopharma filtration solutions have helped speed development and manufacture of critical vaccines and therapeutics. We introduced new daily face coverings, and quickly adapted our cleaning and disinfecting product lines to serve new customers. We also made investments to support vulnerable populations, and helped young students learn remotely through science-at-home programs. At the center of our COVID-19 response has been our Disciplined capital allocation across the entire company people: from the 50,000 3Mers in our factories and — coupled with strong cash flow — also helped us distribution centers, to the retirees who came back to reduce net debt by over $4 billion in the year. As a result, staff our fraud hotline, to those who answered the call in we exited 2020 with a stronger balance sheet and capital Valley, Nebraska. People across 3M have stepped up to structure, and well-positioned for the future. make a difference, and I cannot thank our entire team enough for their extraordinary contributions in 2020. 3 Positioned for growth and emerging 3M is also partnering with our communities to improve society. In 2020 we took steps to advance our values, market trends including our commitments to diversity, equity and inclusion. We launched an ambitious plan to COVID-19 is rapidly changing the global economy and strengthen economic opportunities and education the way people live, work and communicate. Years’ for people of color, and we are holding ourselves worth of changes are unfolding in a matter of months, accountable to new goals to support underrepresented creating opportunities to unleash 3M science and drive groups at 3M, building on recent progress. In February sustainable, long-term growth. 2021 we released our first annual Diversity, Equity and Inclusion report with details on our goals and metrics, With people at home more, for example, there is further increasing transparency in this important area. growing need for products to maintain and improve households, increasing demand for our indoor air quality and do-it-yourself solutions.