UK's Johnson Matthey PLC prelim FY operating profit falls on prior-year one-off
UK's Johnson Matthey PLC prelim FY operating profit falls on prior-year one-off
Overview
UK chemicals and precious metals firm's 2025/26 revenue up 14%
Reported operating profit fell 65% due to prior-year disposal gains not repeated
Company to return £1 bln to shareholders after Catalyst Technologies sale completes
Outlook
Johnson Matthey expects low to mid single digit growth in underlying operating profit for 2026/27
Company expects 2026/27 performance to be weighted towards the second half
Johnson Matthey expects group capex of c.£230 mln for 2026/27, offset by working capital efficiencies
Result Drivers
COST EFFICIENCIES - Co said group underlying operating profit growth was largely driven by cost efficiencies, including reduced R&D and SG&A spend and footprint consolidation in Clean Air
OPERATIONAL METAL LOSSES - PGM Services operating profit declined 20%, mainly due to a £48 mln operational metal loss in the US refinery, as well as lower metal recoveries and reduced refining volumes
CASH GENERATION - Free cash flow rose 163% yr/yr, mainly due to higher underlying operating profit, reduced capital expenditure and lower restructuring costs
Company press release: ID:nRSb9567Fa
Key Details
Metric | Beat/Miss | Actual | Consensus Estimate |
FY Revenue |
| GBP 12.57 bln |
|
FY Net Income |
| -GBP 91 mln |
|
FY Basic EPS |
| -GBP 0.54 |
|
FY Dividend |
| GBP 0.77 |
|
FY EBIT |
| GBP 161 mln |
|
FY Pretax Profit |
| GBP 91 mln |
|
Analyst Coverage
The current average analyst rating on the shares is "buy" and the breakdown of recommendations is 5 "strong buy" or "buy", 4 "hold" and no "sell" or "strong sell"
The average consensus recommendation for the specialty chemicals peer group is "buy"
Wall Street's median 12-month price target for Johnson Matthey PLC is GBp2,145.00, about 1.5% below its May 27 closing price of GBp2,178.00
The stock recently traded at 14 times the next 12-month earnings vs. a P/E of 15 three months ago
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(This story was created using Reuters automation and AI based on LSEG and company data. It was checked and edited by a Reuters journalist prior to publication.)