Summary Results

* before amortisation of acquired intangibles, major impairment and restructuring charges, profit or loss on disposal of businesses and, where relevant, related tax effects

Johnson Matthey continues to perform well:

• Revenue up 29% to £5.9 billion
• Sales excluding precious metals (sales) 17% ahead at £1.3 billion with good growth across all of the group’s divisions
• Underlying profit before tax and underlying earnings per share up 24% and 29% respectively
• Return on invested capital (ROIC) increased to 21.3%, exceeding the group’s long term target
• Balance sheet remains strong with net debt (including the post tax pension deficit) / EBITDA of 1.4 times
• Interim dividend up 20% to 15.0 pence

Business Overview:

• Environmental Technologies Division made further good progress with sales up 22% and underlying operating profit 19% ahead

Emission Control Technologies’ sales grew by 22%, benefiting from good growth in its heavy duty diesel business Sales in Process Technologies were up 26%. Davy Process Technology had an excellent start to the year and Intercat is performing ahead of our expectations




• Precious Metal Products Division’s sales increased by 9% as its Services businesses benefited from higher average precious metal prices and its Manufacturing businesses saw continued growth in demand

• Fine Chemicals Division performed well with sales up 16% driven by increasing demand for its active pharmaceutical ingredients

Commenting on the results, Neil Carson, Chief Executive of Johnson Matthey said:

"Johnson Matthey continued to perform well in the first half of 2011/12 with growth across all of the group’s divisions and a 29% increase in underlying earnings per share.

The short term prospects for the global economy are difficult to predict. Nonetheless we believe that Johnson Matthey is well placed and we currently anticipate that the group’s results in the second half will be slightly ahead of those for the first six months of the year.

Notwithstanding current macroeconomic uncertainties, the drivers for our business remain robust. In addition, we continue to increase our investment in research and development to position the group for longer term growth."

Presentation to Analysts (ppt)

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Enquiries:
Ian Godwin
Director, IR and Corporate Communications
Johnson Matthey
+44 (0)20 7269 8410

Robert MacLeod
Group Finance Director
Johnson Matthey
+44 (0)20 7269 8484

Howard Lee
The HeadLand Consultancy
+44 (0)20 7367 5225

Tom Gough
The HeadLand Consultancy
+44 (0)20 7367 5228