Johnson Matthey Adjusts Guidance Amid Sale of Catalyst Business

By Andrea Figueras

Johnson Matthey adjusted its expectations for its fiscal year as a whole as it readies the sale of its catalyst unit.

The British platinum refiner said Thursday that the outlook for the year as a whole is now at the higher end of the initial guidance of mid-single-digit growth in underlying operating profit. This is excluding catalyst technologies, and at constant precious metal prices and currency.

At current precious metal prices and foreign exchange rates, the company sees a net benefit of around 10 million pounds ($13.4 million) to full-year operating performance compared with the prior year. It had previously estimated a 5-million-pound hit.

For the first half ended Sept. 30, the group anticipates a strong performance in underlying operating profit--also excluding the units--partly driven by efficiency improvements across the group.

However, it expects its catalyst technologies unit to report a material decrease in underlying operating profit for the first half partly due to weak demand. Earlier this year, Johnson Matthey reached an agreement with U.S. industrial conglomerate Honeywell International for the sale of the business for 1.8 billion pounds.

"We continue to make progress on both regulatory approvals and the carve-out of the business," the U.K. company said. It expects the transaction to be completed by the first half of calendar year 2026.

Johnson Matthey will publish results for its fiscal first half on Nov. 20.

Write to Andrea Figueras at andrea.figueras@wsj.com