Johnson Matthey results impacted by lower precious metal market prices

Johnson Matthey PLC (LON:JMAT) has announced its half year results for the six months ended 30^th September 2023.

Continued execution against a challenging economic backdrop

· Good growth in underlying profit at constant FX and adjusting for precious metal prices

· Overall results impacted by lower precious metal market prices as guided

· Transformation progressing at pace to create a more streamlined organisation and stronger platform for growth

· On track to deliver in excess of £150 million annualised savings by end of 2024/25, with associated restructuring charges of £17 million in the period

· Underlying margin up in Clean Air and Catalyst Technologies – plans for further increase

· Three year cumulative capex guidance to 2024/25 reduced by c.10% to c.£1.0bn

· Delivering on strategic milestones, including winning key ‘first of a kind’ projects in sustainable fuels and low carbon hydrogen

				Reported results						Underlying results (continuing)¹
				Half year ended 30th September			% change			Half year ended 30th September			% change		% change, constant FX rates
				2023	2022					2023	2022
Revenue			£m	6,531		7,328		-11
Sales excluding precious metals³			£m							1,967		2,045		-4	-1
Operating profit			£m	136		211		-36		180		222		-19	-15
Profit before tax(continuing)			£m	82		188		-56		139		201		-31
Profit after tax (continuing)			£m	63		150		-58		108		161		-33
Basic earnings per share (continuing)			pence	34.7		82.0		-58		59.1		88.2		-33
Interim dividend per share			pence	22.0		22.0		–

Underlying performance – continuing operations¹,²

· Sales of £2.0 billion, down 1%, with lower average precious metal prices affecting PGM Services, partly offset by strong growth in Hydrogen Technologies and further progress in Catalyst Technologies

· Underlying operating profit of £180 million, down 15%, primarily due to lower average precious metal prices

· Underlying operating profit – adjusting for c.£55 million impact from precious metal prices – was up 10% driven by higher pricing and transformation benefits

· Underlying earnings per share of 59.1p, down 33% due to lower underlying operating profit and higher net finance charges of £41 million

· Strong balance sheet with net debt of £1,044 million; net debt to EBITDA of 1.7 times in line with our target range of 1.5 to 2.0 times

Reported results²

· Revenue down 11%, driven by lower average precious metal prices

· Operating profit of £136 million, down 36%, due to lower average precious metal prices and £42 million impairment and restructuring charges

· Profit before tax of £82 million, compared to £188 million in the prior period, largely reflecting lower operating profit and higher net finance charges

· Reported earnings per share (continuing) of 34.7 pence

· Cash inflow from operating activities of £236 million (1H 2022/23: £145 million)

· Interim dividend of 22.0 pence per share maintained at the same level as the prior year

Operational and strategic highlights

· Clean Air underlying profitability improved: taking actions to drive further margin increase

· Won nine large scale projects in Catalyst Technologies across low carbon hydrogen and sustainable fuels, worth c.£185 million in sales over five years

· Delivered significant margin uplift in Catalyst Technologies, with first half margins up 480 basis points, and on track to achieve margin targets

· Hydrogen Technologies sales up 61%

· Achieved c.£70 million transformation cost savings to date, and on track to deliver in excess of £150 million annualised savings by the end of 2024/25

· Committed to achieving net zero by 2040. Targeting 42% reduction in Scope 1 and Scope 2 greenhouse gas emissions, and 42% reduction in Scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions from purchased goods and services by 2030

Liam Condon, 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 performance⁴ despite a challenging macroeconomic environment.

We are executing on 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.

We have continued to make good progress in delivering against our strategic milestones whilst also driving transformation. In particular, we have secured important ‘first of a kind’ project wins in Catalyst Technologies which position us as a global leader in sustainable solutions. This is confirmation of the significant value we see in Catalyst Technologies as we help our customers to decarbonise. In Hydrogen Technologies we continue to see strong sales growth in the near term. The global hydrogen value chain is in an early stage of development and continues to evolve. We have a very disciplined and modular approach to investment that will ensure sustainable returns despite market volatility, and we expect a significant opportunity for value creation in the medium and long-term.

Looking forward, we are on track to deliver good growth in underlying performance and I am excited about the opportunities that lie ahead. I am confident we will achieve our 2023/24 milestones and deliver on our strategy, creating sustainable shareholder value and benefits for all our stakeholders.

Outlook for the year ending 31st March 2024

For 2023/24, the outlook for underlying performance has improved and we now expect at least high single digit growth in operating performance at constant precious metal prices and constant currency (previously at least mid single digit). This is underpinned by transformation benefits of c.£55 million in the year.

In Clean Air, we continue to expect strong growth in operating performance and a sequentially stronger second half. Whilst external data suggest limited growth in vehicle production for 2023/24, margin expansion should mainly be driven by efficiency benefits and we expect a double digit operating margin for the full year, with further progress beyond. PGM Services’ performance will be largely driven by precious metal prices, with recycling volumes remaining subdued. For Catalyst Technologies, we expect very strong growth in operating performance and a significant uplift in margins, benefiting from pricing and efficiencies. We expect sales to grow strongly in Hydrogen Technologies and we will continue to invest for growth in a very disciplined manner, resulting in an operating loss at a similar level to 2022/23.⁵

Whilst precious metal prices have stabilised recently, it remains difficult to predict how they may develop. To illustrate the impact they may have on our results, assuming prices remain at their current level⁶ for the remainder of 2023/24 there would be an adverse impact of
c.£80 million⁷ on full year operating performance compared with the prior year (1H 2023/24: c.£55m adverse impact). We remain focused on mitigating the potential impact on our performance.

At current foreign exchange rates⁸, translational foreign exchange movements for the year ending 31st March 2024 are expected to adversely impact underlying operating profit by
c.£15 million (1H 2023/24: £9m adverse impact).

Dividend

The board has approved an interim dividend of 22.0 pence per share, maintained at the same level as the prior year (1H 2022/23: 22.0 pence per share). The interim dividend will be paid on 6th February 2024, with an ex-dividend date of 30th November 2023, to shareholders on the register on 1st December 2023.

Group Leadership Team changes

We have made changes to our Group Leadership Team as we reshape our business to drive improved profitability and position ourselves for long-term growth.

Maurits van Tol, previously Chief Technology Officer, has been appointed Chief Executive, Catalyst Technologies. Maurits succeeds Jane Toogood who successfully positioned Catalyst Technologies as a global leader in sustainable technologies. Jane has decided it is the right time for a new leader to take the business through the next phase of acceleration and has left the group. Liz Rowsell, previously Corporate R&D Director, succeeds Maurits as Chief Technology Officer.

Johnson Matthey have combined Strategy with Corporate Development given their strong interdependency. Louise Melikian, previously Head of Corporate Development, is now Chief Strategy and Corporate Development Officer and joins the Group Leadership Team. Christian Gunther, previously Chief Strategy and Transformation Officer, who has served Johnson Matthey very well, has also left the group.

All changes were effective from 1st October 2023.

Notes:
1.	Underlying performance is before profit or loss on disposal of businesses, gain or loss on significant legal proceedings together with associated legal costs, amortisation of acquired intangibles, share of profits or losses from non-strategic equity investments, major impairment and restructuring charges and, where relevant, related tax effects. For definitions and reconciliations of other non-GAAP measures, see pages 49 to 54.
2.	Unless otherwise stated, sales and operating profit commentary refers to performance at constant exchange rates. Growth at constant rates excludes the translation impact of foreign exchange movements, with 1H 2022/23 results converted at 1H 2023/24 average rates. In 1H 2023/24, the translational impact of exchange rates on group sales and underlying operating profit was an impact of £52 million and £9 million respectively.
3.	Revenue excluding sales of precious metals to customers and the precious metal content of products sold to customers.
4.	At constant FX and adjusting for c.£55 million impact from precious metal prices.
5.	Outlook commentary for Clean Air, PGM Services, Catalyst Technologies and Hydrogen Technologies assumesconstant precious metal prices and constant currency.
6.	Based on average precious metal prices in November 2023 (month to date).
7.	A US$100 per troy ounce change in the average annual platinum, palladium and rhodium metal prices each have an impact of approximately £1 million, £1.5 million and £0.75 million respectively on full year underlyingoperating profit in PGM Services. This assumes no foreign exchange movement.
8.	At average foreign exchange rates for November 2023 month to date (£:US$ 1.227, £:€ 1.145, £:RMB 8.937) translational foreign exchange movements for the year ending 31st March 2024 are expected to adversely impact underlying operating profit by c.£15 million.