are clearly making a difference. Doctors, hospitals and other medical service providers continue to show a strong preference for 3M products.

 

For full-year 2008, Health Care’s results were strong, with sales increasing 8.2 percent to $4.3 billion and operating income margins of 27.3 percent. As discussed further below, both 2007 and 2006 operating income results include significant gains from the sale of 3M’s pharmaceuticals business in December 2006 and January 2007, negatively impacting the 2008 versus 2007 year-on-year operating income comparison. Local-currency sales were up 6.8 percent, largely organic, but also included 1.7 percent from acquisitions. In 2008, 3M closed a number of important bolt-on acquisitions in Health Care, including TOP-Service, a German orthodontic technology and services company offering a digital lingual solution; Imtec, an Oklahoma-based manufacturer of dental implants and cone beam computed tomography; and Solumed, a Quebec-based developer and marketer of leading-edge medical products designed to prevent infections in operating rooms and hospitals. Full-year 2008 sales were led by strong increases in 3M’s medical, dental and orthodontics businesses. Sales grew in all geographies, led by strong gains in Asia Pacific and Latin America.

 

In 2007, Health Care sales were $3.968 billion. Local-currency growth was 18.3 percent (excluding divestitures), including 4.4 percentage points of growth from acquisitions and 4.5 percentage points of growth from supply agreements related to the sale of the global branded pharmaceuticals business. The sale of the pharmaceuticals business reduced Health Care sales growth by 23.7 percent. 3M provides disaggregated information on sales growth for Health Care’s remaining businesses (without pharmaceuticals) further below.

 

The combination of the following items positively impacted total year 2007 Health Care operating income by $791 million. As discussed in Note 2, in January 2007 the Company sold its branded pharmaceuticals business in the Europe region. The operating income gain related to this sale, which is included in Health Care, totaled $781 million. In addition, as discussed in Note 4, a net operating income gain of $10 million was recorded in 2007, which primarily related to adjustments to restructuring costs incurred in the fourth quarter of 2006.

 

The combination of the following items positively impacted total year 2006 Health Care operating income by $673 million, primarily in the fourth quarter of 2006. As discussed in Note 2, in early December 2006, the Company sold its branded pharmaceuticals business in the Asia Pacific region, including Australia and South Africa. The Company also sold its branded pharmaceuticals business in the United States, Canada and Latin America in late December 2006. The operating income gain related to this sale, which is included in Health Care, totaled $1.074 billion. In addition, as discussed in Note 4, the Health Care segment for the year 2006 included $293 million in restructuring costs, primarily employee-related severance and benefit costs. Of the $293 million, $166 million was related to the pharmaceuticals business and