3M Healthcare chief focuses on increasing revenue

3M’s chief financial officer has said that it’s harder and more risky to see results within the pharmaceutical sector than the firm’s other concerns, Marketwatch has reported.

Speaking to a conference of industrial manufacturing bosses, Pat Campbell said that while the firm’s pharmaceutical business was profitable it had significantly different characteristics from other subsidiaries within the corporation.

His comments come after the firm reported dreary fourth quarter healthcare profits of $304 million, down on $310 million, despite boosting its overall company wide income by 5.7 per cent to $761 million.

Mr Campbell said that firms in the medical business have to put a great deal into research and development in contrast to other industrial sectors.

“Most work we do on research and development [in other areas] you see in the workplace fairly rapidly,” he argued.

Conference delegates were told that 3M intends to boost productivity in all of its six concerns, but is focused on generating better turnover.

“My objective is to drive increased revenue and more economic profit, and if that translates into higher margins, so be it,” he said.

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