Johnson Matthey (JMAT.L) has announced a significant increase in its first-half profit before tax, reaching £554 million compared to £82 million in the same period last year. The earnings per share also saw a substantial rise to 266.4 pence, up from 34.6 pence. However, the underlying pre-tax profit experienced a slight decrease to £133 million from £139 million, while underlying earnings per share marginally fell to 57.4 pence from 59.1 pence.
For the six months ending 30th September 2024, the company's revenue dropped to £5.63 billion, down from £6.53 billion in the previous year. When excluding precious metals, sales were £1.72 billion compared to the previous year's £1.97 billion.
Despite these changes, the board has decided to maintain the interim dividend at 22.0 pence per share, the same as the prior year.
