Johnson Matthey fiscal 2008/09 net profit drops 6%, cuts jobs

04 June 2009 10:29  [Source: ICIS news]

LONDON (ICIS news)--Johnson Matthey posted a 6% drop in net profit for its 2008/09 fiscal year to £173.9m ($283m, €200m) from £185.4m due to weak demand from the automotive industry, the UK-based specialty chemicals and catalysts company said on Thursday.

For the year ended 31 March, sales increased by 5% to £7.85bn driven by strong growth in the first half of the year.

In the second half, Johnson Matthey was hit by weaker vehicles sales worldwide, which reduced demand for products such as autocatalysts.

“After a strong performance in the first half of 2008/09 the credit crunch and global downturn had a major impact on the group's second half results,” said CEO Neil Carson.

The company cut 13% of the workforce in its Emission Control Technologies division to reduce costs due to the deteriorated automotive market. Johnson Matthey said cost cutting actions in the division would save it £10m a year.  

“So far we have seen no real signs of improvement in demand for automotive products in 2009/10 and we expect the group’s sales will be down in our first half in comparison to a very strong performance in the same period last year,” Carson said.

($1 = €0.71, €1 = £0.87)

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By: Mark Watts
+44 20 8652 3214

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