Johnson Matthey rose to the top of the City leaderboard after the maker of catalytic converters said full-year profits would be better than investors had predicted.
The group was hit hard in the early stages of last year’s lockdown as car manufacturers were forced to shut their plants. However, chief executive Robert Macleod said the second half was “materially stronger” as activity in its end markets picked up again. Owing to the strong finish, Johnson Matthey expects group operating performance to be “around the top end of market expectations”, which is about £500 million - £30 million more than the average forecast.
The company also confirmed that it was undertaking a strategic review of its health business, which Margaret Schooley, an industrials analyst at Stifel, said was a “sensible” decision, especially given the “strong M&A environment”. Shares in the company rose 99p, or 3.2 per cent, to £31.98.
Johnson Matthey was the pick of the bunch on the FTSE 100, London’s blue-chip index, which itself rose for the third consecutive day. The index improved another 16.44 points, or 0.2 per cent, to 6,901.76 — its best since the final few days of last February, shortly after global stock markets started to crash.
Trading on the FTSE 250 was a bit more muted, with the more UK-biased mid-cap index holding close to the record high that it closed at last night. The index dipped 6.74 points to 22,153.83.
Advertisement
Sentiment among traders was boosted last night by a dovish Federal Reserve, which hinted that its loose monetary policy, which has kept markets afloat this past year, would remain in place for “some time”.
Astrazeneca, the drugs giant, shook off any concerns about its Covid vaccine as it rallied 191p, or 2.7 per cent, to £72.90. Analysts at UBS said that investors should “start to look beyond the vaccine noise”, especially given that the jab adds nothing to the company’s bottom line.