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Johnson Mathey plc
Type	Public(LSE: JMAT)
Founded	1817
Headquarters	London, United Kingdom
Key people	Sir John Banham (Chairman), N A P Carson, (CEO)
Industry	Chemicals
Products	Precious Metals, Industrial catalysts
Revenue	£4,756 million (2006)
Operating income	£229 million (2006)
Net income	£151 million (2006)
Website	www.matthey.com

Johnson Matthey plc (LSE: JMAT) is a British chemical company which has its headquarters near Holborn in central London. It is traded on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.

Contents 1 History 1.1 Johnson Matthey Bankers 2 Current operations 3 External links

Johnson Matthey traces its origins to 1817, when Percival Norton Johnson set up business as a gold assayer in London. In 1851 George Matthey joined the business and its name was changed to Johnson & Matthey. The following year the firm was appointed Official Assayer & Refiner to the Bank of England.

In the 1960s, Johnson Matthey formed a subsidiary Johnson Matthey Bankers, which took its seat in the London Gold Fixing.

In the early 1980s the bank expanded its activities outside the bullion business, and by making high-risk loans provided over half of the parent company's profits in 1983. The quality of some of these loans turned out to be worse than expected, and the size of them exceeded the capital of the bank. To prevent a wider banking crisis, the Bank of England organised a rescue package in the evening of 30 September 1984, including purchasing JMB for £1.

The company's head office is located on Hatton Garden, London. The principal operating facility in the UK is located at Royston in Hertfordshire, with other facilities including those at Brimsdown in Enfield, Middlesex, also in Clitheroe lancashire and Hatton Garden, London. In the US its principal site is located at West Deptford, New Jersey.

The company now has four divisions:

• Catalysts manufactures catalysts and catalytic converters for the automobile sector and others.
• Precious Metals refines and distributes platinum, gold and silver. Johnson Matthey is the world leader in platinum distribution and the sole marketing agent for Anglo Platinum, the world’s largest producer of platinum.
• Colours & Coatings produces products for the glass and ceramics industries.
• Pharmaceutical Materials produces active pharmaceutical ingredients for sale to pharmaceutical companies.

Johnson Matthey operates globally. Turnover for the year to 31 March was £4.639 billion. Profit before tax was £131 million and net profit was £88.2 million.

• Official site
• Yahoo profile
• Johnson Matthey's Platinum today
• Johnson Matthey's Platinum Metals Review