Johnson Matthey may be a much simpler business than in the days when it used to supply Anglo American with platinum but as the halfway figures show, it still has a lot of parts moving in different directions. The FTSE 100 multinational may be best thought of as a specialist chemicals company seeking new end markets and applications for its products, but some of the existing markets are proving challenging.
Two thirds of the group is in emission control technologies, allowing cars to limit pollution from their exhausts. Europe is a strong market here, driven by ever tighter regulation. The US is weaker, both in terms of light vehicles and the heavy truck market.
The Trump effect here is hard to read. Any stimulus to