Minnesota Mining & Manufacturing reported a 30.1%...

Minnesota Mining & Manufacturing reported a 30.1% increase in first-quarter earnings, its strongest quarterly gain in 10 years. Income for the three months ended March 31 rose to a record $277 million, compared to $213 million in the year-ago period. Sales for the quarter increased 18% to $2.6 billion, also a new high, from $2.2 billion. The St. Paul, Minn., firm said earnings benefited from double-digit worldwide unit growth, increased productivity, weakening of the U.S. dollar and a lower tax rate.