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Car sales drive up Matthey earnings

By Daily Mail Reporter
Updated: 04:39 EDT, 3 June 2011

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Chemicals group Johnson Matthey posted higher annual profits on the back of rising car sales.

The world's largest maker of catalytic converters said global car sales rose 9pc to 73.2m vehicles last year, driven by growth in Asia.

This saw the firm's pre-tax profits rise 14% to £260.6m, while sales surged 27% to £10bn.

Chief executive Neil Carson said: 'We have had a pretty good year.

We invested in new products and built factories during the recession and this is beginning to pay off.'

However, market fears about the rising cost of raw materials and £71.8m of exceptional charges booked by the firm as a result of closing loss-making businesses saw the stock fall 68p to 2013p.

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