Johnson Matthey announced the departure of its chief executive on Thursday, alongside plans to sell its battery materials business, as it warned the trading outlook for the full year was towards the lower end of market expectations.
Following a detailed review, the company has concluded that the potential returns from the battery materials unit will not be adequate to justify further investment.
“In recent months, as JM has been exploring strategic partnerships, it has also become clear that our capital intensity is too high compared with other more established large scale, low cost producers,” it said.
“The board has therefore decided to pursue the sale of all or parts of this business with the ultimate intention of exiting. We will move swiftly to determine the best outcome for all of our stakeholders and intend to make a further announcement as soon as possible.”
Johnson Matthey also said that Robert MacLeod plans to retire as chief executive after nearly eight years in the role and will step down in February. He will be succeeded by Liam Condon, who is currently a member of the board of management of Bayer and president of the Crop Science Division, a role he has held for nine years.
The group, which is due to announce its first half results on 24th November, said the trading outlook for the full year ending 31st March 2022, assuming current precious metal prices and foreign exchange rates, is towards the lower end of market expectations.
“This is primarily due to the wide-spread supply chain shortages affecting the automotive industry and the consequential impact on precious metals prices, together with acute labour shortages in the US that are adversely impacting our health business, which is subject to strategic review,” it said.
At 0810 GMT, the shares were down 12.6% at 2,446.84p.
