Johnson Matthey PLC (LSE:JMAT) said profits for last year will be in line with forecasts but that it expects supply chain disruption for automotive customers, cost inflation and market volatility to disrupt the current year.
The FTSE 100 group, which recycles platinum to make automotive and industrial catalysts, said it will seek to recover cost inflation through pricing and efficiencies but acknowledged that current trading was against a background "of greater political and economic uncertainty with both the ongoing disruptive effects of COVID-19 and the impacts of the conflict in Ukraine".
For the past 12 months to the end of March, the company said underlying earnings (EBIT) are expected to be in line with consensus estimates of £549mln, with net debt around £0.9bn, compared to consensus at £968mln.
Longer term, the company said it expects the war in Ukraine to "drive a significant acceleration towards a net zero carbon economy, with corresponding investment to position us for the significant growth opportunities from our sustainable technology portfolio".
Its Efficient Natural Resources arm is expected to deliver an operating profit "materially" above the prior year, driven by higher average platinum group metal (PGM) prices.
In Hydrogen Technologies arm, where Johnson Matthey has a large share of 'blue hydrogen' production using catalytic converters and has set out plans to become a big player in production of 'green hydrogen' from its proton exchange membrane technology and expertise in fuel cells and closed-loop recycling, an operating loss is expected for the past year as more investment was made to support growth, with the first phase of expanded production in the UK and China expected to begin in early 2023.