Chemical firm’s electric car bid lifts shares 15pc

SHARES in chemical maker

Johnson Matthey hit their highest value in 11 months yesterday after it announced plans to position itself at the forefront of the rapidly growing electric car market.

The company, which makes everything from catalytic converters to pharmaceutical ingredients, will invest an initial £200m in battery technology next year to bolster its capacity in the sector.

With its help, the firm believes electric cars could generate sales of more than £22bn a year once they have secured a 10pc share of the vehicle market. And the good news didn’t stop there.

Johnson Matthey said its clean air division, which helps control vehicle emissions, will provide high single- digit growth in the next three years, driven by sales in Europe and tighter regulation.

However, it warned that sales growth will slow beyond this as more European customers ditch diesel engines for electric vehicles, offsetting its strong growth in North America and Asia. In a note reconfirming sales growth expectations of 6pc for the year, the firm said it will continue to invest in the healthcare sector, and expects to generate double-digit growth in this area from next year.

Finally, it will make a further £50m of savings after announcing £25m of cuts earlier this year. Shares rose 14.6pc, or 432p, to 3390p, adding £836m to its value.

Liberum recommends buying shares in Petra Diamonds, claiming sentiment towards it has reached ‘peak fear’ recently.

Petra’s shares fell 23pc this month when it suspended its Williamson mine in Tanzania after £11m of diamonds were seized by the country’s government, which claimed Petra lied about their value. But with Williamson forming just 3pc of Petra’s total value, Liberum said the drop was ‘patently absurd’. The broker said Petra is being unfairly compared to peer Acacia Mining, which has been crushed by a £140bn fine from Tanzania this year over similar accusations.

Liberum said the ‘poor timing’ of strikes at two of Petra’s South African mines has done little to sweeten negative sentiment.

With a third South African strike announced yesterday, shares fell 3.3pc, or 2.25p, to 66.75p, adding weight to Liberum’s comments.

The FTSE 100 fell just 0.1pc, or 8.05 points, to 7263.90, with flat performance coming despite financials rallying after the Federal Reserve indicated another US interest rate hike could happen this year. FTSE 250 construction firm Kier

Group rose 6.3pc, or 69p, to 1164p after showing off its strong foundations in results for the year ended June 30. The firm, which has simplified its business to focus entirely on buildings, infrastructure and housing, saw revenues rise 5pc to £4.3bn and profits jump 8pc to £126m over the period.

The strong performance led it to increase its full-year dividend per share by 5pc, to 67.5p.

Mitchells & Butlers joined an increasingly large group of pub and bar operators complaining that wet weather over the summer has put Brits off the booze.

The firm, which owns the Toby Carvery and All Bar One chains, said like-for-like drink sales fell 1.2pc in the eight weeks to September 16. However, with combined food and drink sales growing 2.1pc so far this year, it said it still expects to outperform the market. Shares fell 4.4pc, or 10.8p, to 236.4p.

After issuing three profit warnings since May, double glazing firm Safestyle rose 9.4pc, or 17.5p, to 203p after its half-year results exceeded low expectations.

It reported a 1.4pc jump in likefor-like revenues to £82.5m, while profits dropped 2.5pc to £27.5m.