The Morning Call - Johnson Matthey posts solid growth in sales and profits for year to 31st March

Highlights of the Day

Asian Markets

Asian Shares fell following downbeat China PMI, while the dollar rebounded against the yen on U.S. rate hike speculations

U.S. Markets

U.S. Shares were little changed as financials dropped after JPMorgan and Bank of America warned of revenue weakness, offsetting gains in defensive plays.

Today's News

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker warned US President Donald Trump against withdrawing from the Paris agreement on climate change. “I’m a trans-Atlanticist,” he said at a debate in Berlin on the future of Europe. “But if in the coming hours or days the American president said that he wanted to withdraw from the Paris Accord, it’s Europe’s duty to say, ‘It doesn’t work like that.'” Trump is to announce his decision on the climate deal, which aims to cut greenhouse gas emissions, tomorrow, amid reports that he is set to pull the US out. The White House has declined to comment on those reports, with spokesman Sean Spicer saying only that Trump would make it clear in the “next few days.”

Lloyds Banking Group has completed the acquisition of MBNA, a UK consumer credit card business, from FIA Jersey Holdings, a wholly owned subsidiary of Bank of America. This followed receipt of regulatory and competition approval. The group said the transaction was consistent with its stated strategic ambitions of growing in consumer finance and would enable it to enhance its position and offering within the UK prime credit card market through the MBNA brand. It said the purchase terms were in line with those previously disclosed and the purchase was expected to deliver strong financial returns.

Johnson Matthey posted solid growth in sales and profits for the year to 31st March, with revenue up 12% and profit before tax up 19%, helped by a big currency benefit. The chemicals group recommended a final dividend per share of 54.5p, that lifted the full year payout to 75p, a 5% annual increase that the company said reflected confidence in its medium term prospects. While reported revenue for the year to 31st March was up 12% to £12.03bn, a truer figure of underlying sales excluding precious metals rose 13% to £3.58bn and underlying operating profit by 14% to £513.3m.

Jimmy Choo continues to make excellent progress and is trading strongly and in line with management’s expectations, shareholders at today’s annual general meeting will be told. A statement issued ahead of the meeting said that all categories had shown strong growth in the period, with Men’s remaining the star performer. The group said its Fragrance licence was also performing particularly well.

James and Lachlan Murdoch have held secret talks with UK communications regulator Ofcom in a bid to persuade the regulator to wave through Twenty-First Century Fox Inc’s planned £11.7bn takeover of Sky. Sharon White, chief executive of Ofcom, met with the two Murdoch brothers in London in the last week to discuss the proposed deal. Rupert Murdoch, their father, was not present. Both sides have sought to keep the meeting out of the public eye amid swirling political controversy. Their meeting with White is part of normal scrutiny procedures but comes with the Murdoch family facing new questions over behaviour at their companies,

BA’s owner IAG launches its new trans-Atlantic budget airline, Level, with its first flight from Barcelona to Los Angeles on Thursday. Over the next three weeks Level will roll out flights from the Spanish city to San Francisco, Buenos Aires and Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic. Fares start from £99 one-way and have been on sale since March. Parent company IAG, which owns Iberia, BA, Aer Ingus and Vueling, said it sold 100,000 tickets in the first month.

Oil prices regained some ground following upbeat data from an industry group that U.S. crude inventories fell sharply last week.

Gold held steady, after hitting a five-week high in the previous session, supported by geopolitical tensions and a weaker dollar, but expectations the U.S. Federal Reserve will hike interest rates this month weighed on prices.

Companies Reporting this week

Day	Companies
Today:	Johnson Matthey * Firstgroup * Watkin Jones * Immupharma
Tomorrow:	KCOM Group

Early Market Movements

Market	Index	Change	% Change
UK 100	7,550.8	+30.8	+0.4%
UK 250	20,028.9	+56.7	+0.3%
GER 30	12,641.6	+26.6	+0.2%
FRA 40	5,295.2	+11.6	+0.2%
U.S. 30	21,008.65	-20.82	-0.1%
U.S. 500	2,411.8	-1.1	-0.1%
OIL (BRENT)	50.31	-1.53	-3.0%
GOLD	1,266.94	-1.98	-0.2%

UK Risers & Fallers (8:15am)

Company	Price	Change	% Change
Halfords	381.75	+18.45	+5.1%
Land Securities	1085	+15	+1.4%
CRH	2823	+31	+1.1%
Great Portland Estates	600.25	-34.25	-5.4%
Johnson Matthey	3034	-78	-2.5%
National Grid	1062.5	-27	-2.5%

Latest Broker Views

Company	Broker	Recommendation	Price	Target
Auto Trader Group	Barclays Capital	Overweight	416.10	470.00
Bunzl PLC	HSBC	Hold	2,432.00	2,508.00
ITV PLC	HSBC	Hold	195.70	215.00
Shire PLC	Liberum Capital	Buy	4,471.50	4,900.00

Forthcoming Economic Data

Time/Date	Previous	Forecast	Outcome
8:30am: U.K. Manufacturing PMI	57.3	56.5	–
12:15pm: U.S. ADP Non-Farm Employment Change	177K	181K	–
12:30pm: U.S. Unemployment Claims	234K	239K	–
2:00pm: U.S. ISM Manufacturing PMI	54.8	54.7	–
3:00pm: U.S. Crude Oil Inventories	-4.4M	-2.7M	–