3M, parent company of Top 40 promotional products supplier 3M/Promotional Markets (asi/91240), has reported decreased sales and earnings for the second quarter of 2019.

In a Thursday announcement, Minnesota-headquartered 3M said that its total company Q2 sales declined more than 2.5% year-on-year to $8.17 billion. Net income was $1.12 billion, down from $1.85 billion in the second quarter of 2018. GAAP earnings per share tallied $1.92, a drop of 37.5% from the prior year. Similarly, adjusted EPS was $2.20, down 28.3%.

Mike Roman, 3M

In part, 3M’s earnings took a hit because it incurred a $162 million noncash charge during the second quarter, a consequence of it discontinuing its operations in Venezuela as of May 31. 3M exited Venezuela because of social and political unrest occurring there.

Despite the decline in sales and earnings, 3M CEO/Chairman Mike Roman put forward an optimistic perspective. “I am encouraged by our company’s progress and performance in the second quarter,” said Roman. “Our execution was strong in the face of continued slow growth conditions in key end markets, as we effectively managed costs and improved cash flow. Moving ahead we remain focused on continuing to drive operational improvements, investing for the future and delivering for our customers and shareholders.”

Nonetheless, 3M downgraded its earnings outlook for 2019. The global manufacturer expects the year’s GAAP earnings to fall between $8.25 and $8.75, down from an earlier forecast of $8.53 to $9.03.

During Q2, 3M experienced sales declines in all of its major business divisions, except for health care, which was up nearly 6% to $1.8 billion. Safety/industrial was down 9%, transportation/electronics was off 2.9%, and consumer sales dipped a 0.5%. Geographically, 3M’s total sales grew 1.7% in the U.S., but fell 2.9% in Latin America/Canada, 3.5% in Asia Pacific, and 9.4% in EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa).

3M didn’t break out its North American promotional products sales. Still, Counselor’s annual State of the Industry analysis indicates that 3M has lost market share in the promo space. Counselor estimates that 3M’s 2018 North American promo sales were $90.2 million, down 3% from 2017. That was still good enough to put 3M at number 18 on Counselor’s annual Top 40 ranking of the largest suppliers in the industry.

The bumpy second quarter continued a tough run for 3M, which reported lower year-on-year revenue and layoffs during the first quarter of 2019.