22nd Mar 2006 07:00
Johnson Matthey PLC22 March 2006 For Release at 7.00 am Wednesday 22nd March 2006 Johnson Matthey Pre Close Trading Update Johnson Matthey's financial year ends on 31st March 2006 and its preliminaryannouncement of the full year results will be released on 1st June 2006. Priorto entering its closed period the company is today issuing the following updateon current trading: "Trading in the second half of Johnson Matthey's financial year has continued inline with the trading update given on Thursday 26th January 2006. CatalystsDivision has continued to perform well with Environmental Catalysts andTechnologies (ECT) benefiting from growth in diesel emission control products inEurope. Demand for autocatalysts in the USA remains weak but sales in China andJapan are well up on last year. Overall ECT is on track to achieve 10% growthin profits in the second half. Process Catalysts and Technologies (PCT) hasalso achieved good growth this year led by the Ammonia, Methanol, Oil and Gas(AMOG) catalyst business. On the 1st February 2006 we announced the acquisitionof Davy Process Technology (DPT) for £40 million. Johnson Matthey and DPT havehad a long history of technical collaboration and the acquisition gives PCT theopportunity to grow sales of catalysts into both existing and new markets. The platinum price has remained strong and trading conditions in the preciousmetals markets have been good which has benefited Precious Metal ProductsDivision. Pharmaceutical Materials Division's sales have improved and profitsin the second half are expected to be ahead of the first. Ceramics Division hasmaintained the improvement achieved in the first half and should deliver goodprofit growth for the year. Overall, the outlook for the full year remains very much the same as we set outin our interim statement. Following an encouraging first half we are expectingto achieve good growth in earnings for the year." Enquiries: Ian Godwin Director, IR and Corporate Communications 020 7269 8410John Sheldrick Group Finance Director 020 7269 8438Howard Lee The HeadLand Consultancy 020 7367 5225Laura Hickman The HeadLand Consultancy 020 7367 5227 www.matthey.com This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
Johnson Matthey