UK's Johnson Matthey sees strong Q1 start

22 July 2008 11:04  [Source: ICIS news]

LONDON (ICIS news)--Johnson Matthey has made a strong start to the new financial year with higher catalysts sales and profits, the company said in a pre-AGM statement on Tuesday.

First-quarter profit before tax and amortisation of acquired intangibles was 22% higher, the precious metals and catalyst company said.

Sales for the period to 30 June grew 33% while sales excluding the value of precious metals were up 12%.

“The second quarter has begun well and the group has a strong order book," said chairman Sir John Banham.

“Despite increasingly difficult macroeconomic conditions we expect profit before tax for the half year to 30 September 2008 to be well ahead of the same period last year,” he added.

Johnson Matthey reported in June a full-year 2007 operating profit up 16% at £262.3m ($524.6m, €329.7m) on sales up 20% at £1.75bn.

In the most recent quarter, sales and profits in its Environmental Technologies division were higher, the company said.

Autocatalyst sales grew strongly in Asia but fell in North America reflecting a drop in demand for cars and trucks.

The high oil price had driven demand for catalysts for hydrogen and methanol.

The Fine Chemicals and Catalysts division had made a good start to the new financial year with growing volumes of catalyst products and increased sales of fine chemicals, it added.

($1 = £0.50/$1 = €0.63)

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By: Nigel Davis
+44 20 8652 3214

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