“Please note that in the month of July we will make total combined payments of $3.7 billion related to the Public Water Supplies and Combat Arms settlements.”

In context

“rformance was driven by strong operating income, lower CapEx spending partially offset by higher working capital. Adjusted capital expenditures were $250 million in the quarter as we continue to invest in growth, productivity and sustainability. During the quarter we returned a total of $800 million to shareholders split equally between dividends and share repurchases. And finally, net debt at the end of Q2 stood at approximately $3 billion. These strong results build on our track record of robust cash generation. For the first half of the year we have generated $2 billion of adjusted free cash flow. Our strong capital structure continues to provide us the financial flexibility to invest in our business, return capital to shareholders and meet the cash flow needs related to legal matters. Please note that in the month of July we will make total combined payments of $3.7 billion related to the Public Water Supplies and Combat Arms settlements. Before I move on to our business segment performance, I want to highlight a couple of items for your awareness that were excluded in arriving at our Q2 adjusted results. First, note that we reached settlements of approximately $120 million with insurance carriers related to combat arms. We remain in discussion with multiple carriers and anticipate additional future recoveries. Second, during the quarter we incurred a non-cash charge of approximately $800 million related to a $2.5 billion pension risk transfer on a portion of our U.S. defined pension obligation with Met Tower Life. This action helps us to reduce risk and administrative fees related to our U.S. pension plan. Please turn to Slide 7. Starting with our Safety and Industrial business, which posted sales of $2.8 billion, up 1.1%”