With catalytic converters expected to generate £4bn over next decade, there are questions over how company deploys its cash
The board of Johnson Matthey still couldn’t summon a mea culpa as the financial pain of closing the electric battery unit was formalised as a thumping £314m impairment charge. Six months ago, remember, its chief executive, Robert MacLeod, was singing the praises of the adventure, including announcing a second factory in Finland. Acceptance that Johnson Matthey had been outmuscled by bigger competitors came very late in the day.
Still, there was news of a £200m share buyback, which was presumably an attempt to keep investors sweet until MacLeod’s replacement, Liam Condon, arrives next March from Bayer to conduct the inevitable strategic review. It was also a reminder that, even after wasting so much money on its dream of supplying materials for batteries for electric vehicles, the 200-year-old Johnson Matthey retains strengths.
