Specialist chemicals firm Johnson Matthey reported six month earnings ahead of market estimates and has hiked its dividend.
Pre-tax profits came in at £203m, up 24% on the year before, with total revenues rising 29% to £5.9bn.
Analysts at Charles Stanley had tipped profits to come in at around £185.0m
MoneyWeek
Subscribe to MoneyWeek today and get your first six magazine issues absolutely FREE
Sign up to Money Morning
Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter
Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter
This equated to earnings per share of 72.8p, up 29% on the first half of 2010.
The company pushed its interim dividend up 20% to 15p per share.
The firm said its Environmental Technologies Division had made further good progress with sales up 22% and underlying operating profit 19% ahead.
Its 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.
The Fine Chemicals Division performed well with sales up 16% driven by increasing demand for its active pharmaceutical ingredients, the company added.
Johnson said higher rare earth prices had hit its light duty gasoline autocatalyst business, reducing profits by £15m.
"We expect that the process of concluding rare earth price surcharge agreements with all our customers will be completed during the second half," the firm said.
The main rare earth material the company needs is cerium oxide, which is used to provide oxygen storage capabilities in catalysts for gasoline vehicles.
"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," said chief executive Neil Carson.
-
5 ways your boss can help boost your pensionWorkplaces have a huge opportunity to make employees more aware of their pension options throughout their career – here’s how your employer can help boost your pot to help give you a more comfortable retirement
-
Car finance compensation: FCA warns drivers against using rip off claims firms for share of £18bnThe FCA estimates most eligible motorists will receive around £950 in compensation per agreement – and said they won’t need a claims management company or law firm to access a redress scheme
