28th Sep 2005 07:00
Johnson Matthey PLC28 September 2005 For Release at 7.00 am Wednesday 28th September 2005 Johnson Matthey Pre Close Trading Update for the Half Year - Trading in line with Expectations The first half of Johnson Matthey's current financial year ends on 30thSeptember 2005 and its interim results for the half year will be announced on23rd November 2005. Prior to entering its closed period the company is todayissuing the following update on current trading: "Trading in the first half of Johnson Matthey's financial year has been in linewith expectations. Conditions in the second quarter have been similar to thefirst and divisional performance has continued the progress described in the AGMstatement made on 19th July. Profit before tax and earnings per share are aheadof last year (both before and after the one-off rationalisation costs includedin last year's results). Catalysts Division's profits are ahead of last year with Environmental Catalystsand Technologies benefiting from strong sales of catalysts for diesel cars inEurope, although the North American market has remained weak. Prospects forsales of heavy duty diesel catalysts are encouraging with sales of products tooriginal equipment manufacturers in Europe starting to grow. We have put in newcapacity to manufacture Catalysed Soot Filters (CSFs) which should add to growthin the second half of the year. Process Catalysts and Technologies has also hadan encouraging first half with strong sales of catalysts for methanol synthesisand hydrogen purification. Precious Metal Products Division is ahead of last year with good growth inprofits from manufacturing including Colour Technologies which was transferredfrom Colours & Coatings Division on 1st April. The division has also benefitedfrom favourable market conditions for platinum where the price has remained firmwith continuing good demand from the automotive sector. As expected, profits of the Pharmaceutical Materials Division are lower thanlast year reflecting the reduced contribution from carboplatin and weakerrevenues in contract research. However, prospects for the new product launchesplanned for 2006 remain very encouraging. Ceramics Division, which will be shown in the interim results as a stand alonebusiness following the restructuring of the former Colours & Coatings Division,has had a good first half with profits ahead of last year benefiting fromearlier restructuring and improved margins. The exchange rate for the US dollar has averaged $1.82/£ compared with $1.81/£for the first six months of last year. Overall, exchange translation has nothad a major impact on the group's results compared with last year. The outlook for the year as a whole remains very much the same as we set out inour annual report. Last year the group's profits were higher in the first halfof the year than the second half. In the current financial year we expect thistrend to be reversed with most of the growth coming in the second half of theyear." Enquiries: Ian Godwin Director, IR and Corporate Communications 020 7269 8410John Sheldrick Group Finance Director 020 7269 8438Howard Lee The HeadLand Consultancy 020 7036 0369 www.matthey.com This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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