Johnson Matthey (JMAT) Share Price Rallied 5.74% on H1 Results

The Johnson Matthey PLC (LON: JMAT) share price rallied  5.74% at 11:30 GMT after releasing its half-year results for the six months ended 30 September 2023. The company reported a significant growth in underlying profit when considering constant foreign exchange rates and adjusting for fluctuations in precious metal prices.

The British multinational speciality chemicals and sustainable technologies company also revealed that its overall financial results were affected by the decline in precious metals market prices, as previously anticipated.

The company noted that its transformation initiatives were advancing rapidly, aimed at creating a more efficient and robust organisation poised for sustainable growth. 

The firm is on track to realise annualised cost savings exceeding £150 million by the end of the 2024/25 fiscal year, with associated restructuring charges totalling £17 million.

Notably, the company has witnessed an improvement in underlying margins within our Clean Air and Catalyst Technologies segments, with plans in place for further enhancements.

Johnson Matthey achieved sales of £2.0 billion, representing a slight 1% decline. The dip was primarily attributed to lower average precious metal prices impacting PGM Services. However, this was partly offset by robust growth in Hydrogen Technologies and continued progress in Catalyst Technologies.

The company recorded an underlying operating profit of £180 million, which marked a 15% decrease. The lower average precious metal prices primarily drove the decline. Adjusting for the approximately £55 million impact from precious metal prices, the underlying operating profit exhibited a commendable 10% increase. 

Underlying earnings per share stood at 59.1p, reflecting a 33% decrease.

Liam Condon, Johnson Matthey’s Chief Executive Officer, commented: “We are starting to see the benefits of the new strategy and transformation of Johnson Matthey. Against a backdrop of lower precious metal prices, which affected headline profitability, we delivered good growth in underlying performance despite a challenging macroeconomic environment. We are executing our transformation at pace to simplify the business and drive improved performance. In Clean Air and Catalyst Technologies, underlying profitability is improving, and there are clear plans in place to deliver further margin improvement. Across the group, we continue to upskill our commercial capabilities and our transformation programme is creating a more streamlined organisation and unlocking significant cost savings.”

Johnson Matthey (JMAT) share price. 

The Johnson Matthey (JMAT) share price rallied 5.74% to trade at 1543.8p from Tuesday’s closing price of 1460.0p.