3M Co. Chief Executive Mike Roman said the industrial giant is taking "aggressive actions," after a disappointing start to the year that last week sent the stock to its worst one-day rout in three decades.
"We're aggressively taking down costs," Roman, who took over last July, said in an interview on Bloomberg Television on Tuesday. "It is not simple across-the-board cost-cutting. You have to be focused."
The Maplewood-based company, which is known for its Post-its but makes goods ranging from auto parts to touchscreens, tumbled Thursday when it acknowledged a confluence of operational missteps and deteriorating markets.
The problems were partly self-inflicted: 3M failed to adjust its cost structure quickly enough. The company announced measures that included 2,000 global job reductions.
"We didn't take enough actions in the first quarter," Roman said, as declines in three key markets — automotive, electronics and China — accelerated.
The automotive and electronics markets have been a drag for several quarters amid flagging demand for cars and smartphones around the world. Roman signaled that the weak car and electronics markets may not recover as fast as some may hope.
"A lot of people see that improving as we get in the second half," the CEO said. "We are taking a more cautious approach."
3M, whose clients primarily are manufacturers, is still "hopeful that it will improve as we go through the year," Roman said.
