The destruction of capital that resulted from exiting manufacturing battery materials has already lost Johnson Matthey a swathe of investors. Regaining favour with the market requires the FTSE 100 engineering group to illuminate just where returns will be generated — a task that will take some work.
It was billed as the ideal hedge in the automotive industry: developing and manufacturing its patented eLNO — lithium nickel oxide — material for automotive battery makers, funded in part by cash generated by its catalytic converters business, which specialises in the chemistry that reduces emissions and pollution from cars, vans and lorries.
The realisation this month that it’s not worth the bother, is hardly the best advertisement if you’re looking to offload a business at a decent
