Johnson Matthey is a London-listed precious metals refiner that separates and purifies platinum group metals (PGMs) to a minimum of 99.95% purity, and both Johnson Matthey plc (UK) and Johnson Matthey Inc. (USA) hold London Platinum and Palladium Market (LPPM) Good Delivery status for platinum and palladium, as the LPPM's accredited refiner list showed when retrieved on 6 August 2026. That accreditation sits inside a group that also refines gold and silver, and that narrowed to two core divisions, Clean Air and PGM Services, after completing the £1,325 million sale of its Catalyst Technologies business to Honeywell International on 17 July 2026. This page covers Johnson Matthey's refining capability, its LPPM accreditation tier, its ownership and corporate structure, its recent financial results and corporate changes, and its PGM product range.
What Is Johnson Matthey?#
Johnson Matthey is a UK-incorporated, London Stock Exchange-listed precious metals and technology group, registered at 5th Floor, 2 Gresham Street, London EC2V 7AD, and trading under the ticker JMAT, with a financial year ending 31 March. It is one of the platinum group metal refiners: accredited PGM refiners worldwide covered on DailyPlatinum, and it runs refining sites and trading operations across Europe, North America and Asia. Johnson Matthey's own market research department has published PGM supply and demand data since 1985, first as the Platinum and Interim Platinum review series (1985 to 2013) and since 2014 as the annual PGM Market Report; the May 2026 edition was written by Alison Cowley.
| Attribute | Value |
|---|---|
| Legal entity | Johnson Matthey plc |
| Headquarters | 5th Floor, 2 Gresham Street, London EC2V 7AD, UK |
| Stock exchange and ticker | London Stock Exchange: JMAT |
| Financial year end | 31 March |
| Core divisions (post-2026 restructuring) | Clean Air; PGM Services |
| US operating entity | Johnson Matthey Inc. |
Johnson Matthey's PGM Refining Capability#
Johnson Matthey separates and refines seven metals from PGM-bearing feed, platinum, palladium, rhodium, iridium, ruthenium, silver and gold, to a minimum of 99.95% purity, and describes itself as "the largest secondary platinum group metal (pgm) refiner in the world" (Johnson Matthey, PGM refining and recycling page, accessed 6 August 2026). Full seven-metal separation is a technical moat in this industry: most refiners stop at platinum, palladium and rhodium, while platinum (Pt), element 78, and its five sister metals in this group, each require distinct separation chemistry once combined in the same feed stream.
Johnson Matthey's refining runs a four-stage process: evaluation, smelting, chemical leaching and chemical separation, applied to four feed types, listed below.
- Spent process catalysts: chemical and pharmaceutical catalysts returned for PGM recovery.
- Autocatalyst scrap: platinum, palladium and rhodium recovered from end-of-life vehicle exhaust systems.
- Secondary mine residues: PGM-bearing byproducts from mining and smelting operations.
- Jewelry: platinum and other PGM jewelry returned for refining.
| Process stage | What happens |
|---|---|
| Evaluation | Incoming feed is sampled and assayed for metal content |
| Smelting | Feed is reduced to a PGM-bearing matte or concentrate |
| Chemical leaching | Base metals and other elements are dissolved out of the concentrate |
| Chemical separation | Individual PGMs (platinum, palladium, rhodium, iridium, ruthenium) plus silver and gold are isolated |
Refining sites and trading operations span Europe, North America and Asia, and the UK's Brimsdown refinery is classed as an upper-tier COMAH (Control of Major Accident Hazards) site. The separation chemistry itself, from smelting through chemical leaching, is explained in more general terms on precious metal refining.
Johnson Matthey and LPPM/LBMA Accreditation#
Johnson Matthey holds LPPM Full Member status and Good Delivery listing for both platinum and palladium, the London Platinum and Palladium Market's two highest accreditation tiers, through Johnson Matthey plc (UK) and Johnson Matthey Inc. (USA) (LPPM Good Delivery list and LPPM membership list, both accessed 6 August 2026). The two entities are named separately because LPPM lists them as distinct accredited refiners rather than merging one into the other's listing.
| Accreditation | Johnson Matthey plc (UK) | Johnson Matthey Inc. (USA) |
|---|---|---|
| LPPM Full Member | Yes | Not separately listed |
| LPPM Good Delivery, platinum plate/ingot | Yes | Yes |
| LPPM Good Delivery, palladium plate/ingot | Yes | Yes |
| LPPM rhodium sponge accreditation | Yes | Yes |
Good Delivery status requires a minimum fineness of 99.95%, the same purity floor Johnson Matthey's own refining process meets. To become accredited, an applicant refiner must clear three cumulative tests set out in the LPPM Good Delivery Rules (June 2020 edition): an operating history of not less than five years and refining experience of not less than three years, annual production of at least 500 kg of refined platinum or palladium, and a tangible net worth of not less than £15 million. Johnson Matthey's rhodium sponge accreditation matters because rhodium has no futures contract, no Good Delivery bar and no exchange fixing; LPPM sponge accreditation is the closest the rhodium market has to a formal quality standard, and Johnson Matthey is one of the named refiners on that list under both its UK and US entities.
Ownership and Corporate Structure#
Johnson Matthey is a publicly traded, London Stock Exchange-listed company, trading as Johnson Matthey plc under the ticker JMAT, with no subsidiary or parent-company relationship recorded in DailyPlatinum's sources: it is an independent group, not a division of a larger conglomerate and not family-owned. Johnson Matthey Inc. is the group's US operating entity, separately accredited for LPPM Good Delivery in its own name (see Accreditation, above), rather than trading as a mere branch office of the UK parent.
The group's financial year ends 31 March, and its FY2025/26 preliminary results describe a business narrowed to two core divisions following the Catalyst Technologies disposal, Clean Air and PGM Services, discussed further under Corporate Scale and Financials and Recent Corporate Changes, below. DailyPlatinum's sources do not name a controlling shareholder or founding year for the entity.
Corporate Scale and Financials#
Johnson Matthey reported free cash flow of £168 million, up 163%, for the year ended 31 March 2026, alongside a pro forma underlying operating profit up 6% at constant PGM prices (Johnson Matthey, preliminary results for the year ended 31st March 2026). Clean Air, one of the group's two retained core divisions, posted a margin of 14.5%, up 270 basis points on the prior year.
| Metric | FY2025/26 (year ended 31 March 2026) |
|---|---|
| Free cash flow | £168 million, up 163% |
| Pro forma underlying operating profit | Up 6% at constant PGM prices |
| Clean Air division margin | 14.5%, up 270 basis points |
| Catalyst Technologies sale to Honeywell | Completed 17 July 2026, £1,325 million enterprise value, cash- and debt-free basis |
| Shareholder returns funded by the sale | £1 billion: £800 million special dividends plus £200 million buybacks |
| Cormetech acquisition | Agreed, US$360 million enterprise value |
The Catalyst Technologies sale funded £1 billion returned to shareholders, split between £800 million in special dividends and £200 million in share buybacks. Johnson Matthey is not purely streamlining, though: it separately agreed to acquire Cormetech at a US$360 million enterprise value in the same period, so divestment and acquisition ran side by side. Johnson Matthey's own guidance for 2026/27 points to low-to-mid-single-digit percentage growth in group underlying operating profit at constant precious metal prices and constant currency.
Recent Corporate Changes#
Johnson Matthey completed the sale of its Catalyst Technologies business to Honeywell International Inc. on 17 July 2026, for an enterprise value of £1,325 million on a cash- and debt-free, all-cash basis (Johnson Matthey plc, 17 July 2026). The transaction was originally announced in May 2025 at a headline figure widely reported as £1.8 billion enterprise value; the two figures measure different things, an initial announcement estimate against the final agreed completion price, and are not a contradiction between sources.
Completion narrows Johnson Matthey to two core divisions, Clean Air and PGM Services, which makes the group smaller in revenue terms but more concentrated in PGM refining and PGM-related businesses, not less so. In the same period Johnson Matthey agreed to acquire Cormetech, a heavy-duty emissions catalyst manufacturer, at a US$360 million enterprise value, so the group was adding a business alongside the one it sold.
PGM Products and Commercial Forms#
Johnson Matthey supplies platinum group metals in four commercial forms: sponge, plate and ingot, salts and solutions, and named catalyst products. Johnson Matthey quotes platinum sponge, the powder feedstock used by catalyst manufacturers, at base prices reset four times each business day across Hong Kong, London and New York, covered separately on Johnson Matthey base prices. Plate and ingot meet the LPPM Good Delivery minimum of 99.95% fineness for wholesale bullion trading, described under Accreditation, above.
- Sponge: platinum, palladium and other PGM powder, the primary refinery output and the form Johnson Matthey's base price quotes.
- Plate and ingot: LPPM Good Delivery bars at a minimum of 99.95% fineness, in the 1 kg to 6 kg weight range the LPPM Rules specify.
- Salts and solutions: PGM chloro- and ammine-complex chemicals sold to catalyst, plating and chemical manufacturers.
- Named catalyst products: including Rh-100, Johnson Matthey's catalog name for Wilkinson's catalyst, a rhodium(I) hydrogenation catalyst DailyPlatinum profiles separately as Wilkinson's catalyst.
Where Johnson Matthey Coverage Stops on DailyPlatinum#
DailyPlatinum's coverage of Johnson Matthey reports refining, accreditation and ownership facts, not investment advice or equity research. This page does not track Johnson Matthey plc's share price, offer a stock recommendation, or answer whether Johnson Matthey is a good investment; readers looking for that belong on a financial data provider, not a PGM reference site. Johnson Matthey's Clean Air catalyst business and its gold and silver refining are named here only where they touch its platinum group metal role.
Other Accredited PGM Refiners#
Johnson Matthey is one of several LPPM-accredited and PGM-adjacent refiners DailyPlatinum profiles, including Heraeus, Umicore, Valcambi, Metalor, TANAKA, Sabin Metal, BASF, Argor-Heraeus, Asahi Refining, Rand Refinery and Krastsvetmet. Each of these refiners carries its own accreditation tier and product range, from Metalor's referee status at the LPPM to Rand Refinery's absence from the platinum and palladium Good Delivery lists, and each is profiled on its own dedicated refiner page as DailyPlatinum's refiner coverage publishes.
Frequently Asked Questions#
What does Johnson Matthey do? Johnson Matthey refines and separates platinum group metals to a minimum of 99.95% purity, and after selling its Catalyst Technologies business to Honeywell on 17 July 2026, it operates through two core divisions, Clean Air and PGM Services. It also refines gold and silver alongside its PGM business.
Where is Johnson Matthey's head office located? Johnson Matthey plc is registered at 5th Floor, 2 Gresham Street, London EC2V 7AD, in the United Kingdom. Its refining sites and trading operations extend beyond London, into North America and Asia.
Who is the owner of Johnson Matthey? Johnson Matthey has no single named owner: it is a publicly traded company listed on the London Stock Exchange under the ticker JMAT, not a private or family-owned refiner. DailyPlatinum's sources do not confirm a controlling shareholder.