3M sees profits fall 13%, plans 1,000 more job cuts

MINNEAPOLIS >> 3M, which announced a 13 percent drop in fourth-quarter earnings, said yesterday it will cut 1,000 more jobs this year than had been previously announced as it continues to cut costs in a tough global economy. The diversified manufacturer of products like Scotch tape and Post-it Notes said the new cuts would occur by leaving jobs vacant as employees retire.

The company also intends to eliminate another 1,500 jobs this year that were part of a restructuring cutback announced last May. Minnesota Mining & Manufacturing Co. eliminated 6,000 positions in 2001.

3M's fourth-quarter earnings fell to $387 million, or 98 cents a share, from $447 million, or $1.12 a share, a year earlier.

The results included a $103 million pretax charge related to job cuts and accelerated depreciation and a $73 million pretax gain related to the Scotch tape maker's successful appeal in an antitrust case brought by LePage's, another tape-maker. Excluding nonrecurring items, the firm earned $381 million, or 96 cents a share, up 17 percent from $326 million, or 82 cents a share, in the fourth quarter of 2000. The results beat analysts' estimates by a penny.

Disney, Hearst to close Talk Magazine venture

New York >> Walt Disney Co.'s Miramax Films and Hearst Corp.'s magazine unit are shutting down Talk Magazine, a joint venture they've published monthly for almost 212 years. The celebrity and culture magazine, edited by Tina Brown, will publish its last issue with the February edition, Hearst spokesman Paul Luthringer said. Brown previously was editor- in-chief of Vanity Fair and the New Yorker magazines.

ImClone stock tumbles on congressional probe

NEW YORK >> Shares of ImClone Systems fell nearly a third yesterday after being temporarily halted as the beleaguered firm disclosed it was the subject of a congressional inquiry. ImClone stock has been in a tailspin since late last year, when the Food and Drug Administration refused to accept the company's application for the colorectal cancer drug Erbitux, which had been touted as a potential blockbuster.

Earlier this month, information in a trade publication indicated problems with the appli- cation were more serious than ImClone led investors and analysts to believe when it dis- closed the FDA rejection. Four suits have been filed against ImClone alleging it trivialized the extent of the problem.

HP accuses director of misleading investors

Palo Alto, Calif. >> Hewlett-Packard accused director Walter Hewlett of misleading investors on the purchase of Compaq Computer, saying he's a "musician and academic" who never worked at the company and that other board members support the proposed deal. "We strongly object to his flawed presentation of the merger, which misleads rather than informs shareowners," Hewlett-Packard's eight other directors said in a letter to shareholders. They said the purchase offers the best way to increase share value.

Walter Hewlett, son of co-founder William Hewlett, urged shareholders to reject the proposed $24.5 billion purchase in a letter this week. Hewlett, who is leading a proxy fight against the deal, called it a "backward-looking strategy" with "substantial" risk for the company.

In other news . . .

Exeter, N.H. >> Tyco International, which has lost more than $34 billion in market value this year, will meet with analysts Tuesday to counter rumors the firm blamed for sending its stock lower. CEO Dennis Kozlowski and Chief Financial Officer Mark Swartz said rumors Swartz is leaving and that the firm plans to issue convertible debt aren't true. The stock fell earlier this month after a newsletter said the firm was being investigated by the SEC for a second time. In July 2000 the SEC ended an accounting probe of Tyco's practices and recommended no action be taken against the company.