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Johnson Matthey PLC on Thursday reported a mixed financial year, with results coming in below market consensus.
The FTSE 100 company also warned that volatility in precious metal prices could hit its current financial year.
In the financial year that ended March 31, the London-based speciality chemicals and sustainable technology firm said revenue fell 6.8% to £14.93 billion from £16.03 billion the year before. This missed company-compiled analyst consensus of £15.74 billion.
The decline was driven by lower average platinum group metal prices.
Sales excluding precious metals jumped 11% to £4.20 billion from £3.78 billion but also missed consensus of £4.30 billion.
Johnson Matthey shares lost 3.2% to 1,801.33 pence each in London on Thursday morning.
Pretax profit from continuing operations jumped 76% to £344 million from £195 million but fell short of the consensus estimate of £380.3 million.
The improvement was due to higher operating profit, given the absence of the Battery Minerals impairment taken the year before.
Johnson Matthey declared an interim dividend of 22.0p per share, bringing the annual total to 77.0p, unchanged from the previous year.
‘We have made progress in many areas and remain focused on accelerating our plans to simplify the organisation and speed up our decision making, as we build a stronger and more flexible platform for growth,’ said Chief Executive Officer Liam Condon.
Looking ahead, Johnson Matthey expects ‘at least’ mid-single-digit growth in operating performance at constant precious metal prices and constant currency.
‘This is underpinned by efficiency benefits of circa £55 million in the year,’ it noted.
In financial 2023, the company delivered around £45 million in cost savings, and it said on Thursday it is on track to deliver £150 million in annualised cost savings by financial 2025.
However, Johnson Matthey noted that precious metal prices have been ‘volatile’. Should prices remain at their current levels throughout financial 2024, this would hit annual operating performance by around £50 million, it said.
Johnson Matthey also announced Barbara Jeremiah will become its senior independent director, succeeding John O’Higgins.
Jeremiah is chair of fellow FTSE 100 listing Weir Group PLC and will take up the role after Johnson Matthey’s annual general meeting.
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