Johnson Matthey: Company upbeat about earnings

JOHNSON Matthey expects higher earnings this year after the speciality chemicals company increased first-half profits due to stronger sales of its products that help to make cars more environmentally friendly. The company said yesterday tighter environmental legislation was mainly responsible for boosting sales in Europe and Asia of its automotive catalysts, which control car emissions. Growth in car production and truck sales also helped. “Our growth is going to be driven by car production growth in certain areas such as Asia and North America,” finance director Den Jones said. “And our customers in Europe are doing better than others so we are benefiting from that,” he said. Johnson Matthey said it expected its performance in the current financial year would be slightly ahead of last year. – Reuters