Diversified manufacturer 3M (NYSE: MMM), St. Paul, MN, reported sales for the third quarter were $7.5 billion, up 9.6 percent year-over-year. Profit fell slightly to $1.1billion.

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Organic growth was 1.9 percent for the quarter, reflecting weakness in the electronics market and slow economic growth in the developed world.

The company reported year-on-year sales increases in all geographic regions. Sales in local currencies grew 11.2 percent in Latin America/Canada, 9.2 percent in the U.S., 5.9 percent in Europe and 2.1 percent in Asia Pacific. Excluding optical, Asia Pacific sales increased 11.3 percent in local currencies.

\”The business environment remains challenging, as the economic softening that we experienced late in the second quarter continued into the third,\” said George W. Buckley, president and CEO. \”Looking ahead, early evidence suggests slower growth will persist through year end, therefore we are responding to lower demand with aggressive cost management and operational discipline in developed economies. At the same time, we are bullish on many developing economies and plan to maintain key investments in R&D, sales and manufacturing to capitalize on underlying strength in those regions.\”

Excluding the impact of currency, five of the company’s six business segments expanded sales in the quarter, with Industrial and Transportation up 15.1 percent, Safety, Security and Protection Services up 14.1 percent, Health Care up 10.9 percent, Consumer and Office up 4.6 percent and Electro and Communications up 1.0 percent. Local-currency sales in Display and Graphics declined 14.1 percent, largely due to end-market weakness and lower attachment rates in LCD TVs.

For the first nine months, sales were $22.5 billion, a year-over-year increase of 12.5 percent. Profit increased 3 percent to $3.3 billion.