Johnson Matthey Plc (JMAT) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

So good morning, everybody, and welcome on this reprieve in the weather that we seem to be enjoying today. Thank you for traveling here today. Welcome to Johnson Matthey's 133rd Annual General Meeting. I am Patrick Thomas, Chair of the Board of Johnson Matthey, and it's a pleasure to meet you in-person again, and to see some familiar faces back with us. So also -- I'm also pleased to welcome those of you who have joined this by webcast and also by telephone conference. I look forward to answering your questions later in the meeting. As the time is now 11:00, we have a quorum present, and I declare the meeting open. By way of housekeeping, if you are present in-person, please ensure that your mobile phones are switched to silent, and are not going to disturb the meeting. Thank you. There is no fire test planned or fire alarm test schedule planned today. So if an alarm sounds, please comply with the spoken instructions. The building does not have an assembly point. But in the event of an alarm, you will be directed by representatives of Herbert Smith Freehills to a safe place. We are also recording the meeting today. That is so that shareholders and other stakeholders, who cannot be present, can listen on the company's website in due course. If you are joining the meeting via the webcast or telephone conference facilities, should any connectivity issues or technical faults arise during the meeting, a notification will appear on the webcast screen, and the operator will advise that the webcast and/or telephone conference is experiencing issue. We will then try and reconnect you as soon as possible. So first of all, I'd like to introduce my colleagues on the Board. To my right is Liam Condon, our Chief Executive Officer. Next to him is Stephen Oxley, our Chief Financial Officer. Next to Stephen is Doug Webb, one of the nonexecutives and chair of the Audit Committee. Next to Doug is Jane Griffith, one of our nonexecutive Directors and Chair of the Societal Value Committee. And next to Jane, is at the end, is Rita Forst, one of our nonexecutive Directors. On my left is Simon Price, our General Counsel and Company Secretary. Next to Simon is John O'Higgins, one of our nonexecutive Directors and Chair of the Remuneration Committee. Next to John, I welcome Barbara Jeremiah, our Senior Independent Director. And next to Barbara is Xiaozhi Liu, one of our nonexecutive Directors. I would like to proceed by dealing with all questions from shareholders on matters relevant to the business of the meeting at the outset before we move to voting on the resolutions themselves. Before asking your question, please give your name and state whether you are a shareholder, a proxy or a corporate representative. If you are a proxy or a corporate representative, please state your name and name of the shareholding you are representing. If you're present in the room, please raise your hand and wait for a microphone before speaking. If you're joining by telephone conference call, press star 1 and 1 on your keypad to ask a question. If you are joining by webcast, please ask questions by typing these into the question-and-answer box provided. We will, first of all, take any questions from those in the room, and I will then move to the telephone conference and finally, the webcast. So please, anybody who would wish to ask a question in the room, please raise your hand and we will get a microphone to you to help you ask your questions, please.

I don't need a microphone.

No. We need it for the recording.

Is this working?

Yes.

I'm Martin Twigg. I'm a shareholder. Last year, we were told about the sale of the battery materials to a company that had no money and couldn't raise any money. What's happened with that?

Liam, would you like to answer that, please.

We have completed the disposal of the batteries, ex batteries business, partly to the company that you mentioned. That did give us some considerable proceeds and we have sold off the remaining assets of that business. So the disposal is now fully completed for a reasonable sum, I should add.

What's the reasonable value?

I don't think we've disclosed that amount. And it's several tens of millions of pounds.

I think the original amount mentioned was 50 million.

It was at least that amount.

It got to be 50 million.

Absolutely.

Well done.

Any other questions from within the room? I'll give you a few more seconds to have the opportunity. Yes.

James Williams, shareholder. Can you tell us a little bit more about how the company is doing?

We don't plan to have a formal presentation. We rely on the annual report to provide the update. But if you have any questions that you're concerned about, please raise them. [indiscernible] Martin?

Compared to the last question. Last year, we learned about how much we're in debt. What has happened with the indebtedness over the last year?

The question that is asked by many of our shareholders, particularly some of the very large shareholders. Stephen, would you want to explain the debt situation?

Yes. And thank you again. So our debt year-on-year reduced by about GBP 100 million. We obviously have a major, major focus on our debt levels and how we invest our cash. What we did say when we announced the results is that we will become more and more cash generative over the medium term, and therefore, have the potential to reduce our debt further and think about how we use the proceeds of that cash generation. And that's particularly because we are reaching our peak CapEx. And we are seeing the benefits of the various transformation programs that we have ongoing, which means that particularly from the end of this financial year, we will be increasingly cash generative.

And that's GBP 1 billion was mentioned last year [indiscernible]?

Yes. Yes. And current debt levels or debt levels at year end were a little bit less than that.

Thank you. I noticed a number of shareholders have joined us since we opened the meeting. If there are any questions within the room, this is a chance to ask them. Yes, please.

I have a question about the company's use of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, PFAS.

PFAS?

Yes. So I think they're used within the hydrogen business, and I've contacted Investor Relations previously to try and ascertain the scope of use when it started because obviously, there are regulatory concerns. Those regulatory concerns come from health concerns. Bearing in mind, for those who don't know, obviously, they're colorless, odorless and water solubles and of course, it can't be broken down. So the company started using this when? And in what lines of business? And what are the processes which are in train to both discuss that with the shareholder base? Because obviously, there are significant risks associated with this.

Yes. Thanks a lot for the question. I think in general, there is a lot of attention on the topic of what's generally known as PFAS and potential -- any potential health hazards related to that. There are over 9,000 chemicals that can and have PFAS within them, and they're used in many, many everyday applications. At JM, we're not a manufacturer of PFAS, but there are certain product areas that where we do use PFAS in our production processes. This is most specifically related to the hydrogen technology business and specifically, the topic of membranes, which, are then, where we then quoting a catalyst on the membrane to ultimately produce like a catalyst-coated membrane, which is the key performance, the terming component for fuel cell electrolyte. And we deal with this in various manners. Number 1 is, of course, from a regulatory point of view, JM, we always adhere to all regulations, all safety regulations. And second point is we go beyond. And we have a recycling system set up. We've also developed a new process, and our goal is really to make sure that our products do not end up in the environment. So we try and keep them in the return and recycling loop. And our technologists have also developed now a new process, whereby we can actually recycle membranes, which is completely new and quite groundbreaking, I think, and quite leading in the industry. And a third point, I think, on the innovation side is we have research teams working on PFAS-free membranes, which would be a massive breakthrough for multiple industries. I think we're quite ahead versus other companies in this approach. So we have a multifaceted approach to make sure that what we're doing today is as safe as possible. We have the recycling route, and we're working on PFAS-free alternatives for the future. That's the JM approach.

It seems those are the answers I expected. But obviously, the risks relate to the chemicals, which are not effectively contained and therefore, recycled. So from the membrane, what sort of percentages are lost?

These would be extremely minute. I mean, as JM overall, our -- we've got the pre-phase at our hydrogen technology business is very nascent. It's very small. So we're talking tiny amounts. And then of a membrane, a part that could get into the environment, this is absolutely marginal and way below any regulatory threshold. So from a regulatory point of view, there's not an issue, but that for us, quite honestly, is not enough, which is why we invest so much in the recycling route and why we invest in PFAS-free alternatives as well.

Thank you very much. Any other questions from the room? Thank you very much for your questions. I'm now going to pass to the telephone conference lines to check for questions on the conference call.

Sure. I can confirm there are no questions on the phone lines.

Okay. Thank you very much. As there have been no questions on the telephone conference line, I now pass over to the webcast where we are receiving typed questions. Victoria?

We do have a question from Sheryl Cuisia, who is a representative of the Engagement Appeal. Her question relates to stakeholder engagement in accordance with Section 172 of the Company's Act and the company's commitment to promote the success of the company to the benefit of the members. Especially with the consistent outflow of institutional capital from the U.K. since 2021 and the U.K. struggled to maintain its status as a preeminent capital market, what is the company's view on engaging its retail shareholders? She also asks what practices does it employ to ensure that this base, including employees is sufficiently engaged and informed all company matters?

Okay. Thank you very much, Victoria. And thank you to Sheryl for posting the question. Sheryl did communicate to us in advance the role of the organization she represents, and it is a very interesting organization, which is trying to help younger people understand investment and financial matters. The first question around what companies can do, I think is best answered by looking at Johnson Matthey's focus on science and sustainable technologies. I think it's other organizations that are probably more able than we are to educate the general public on personal finance and investing. However, we do have a role to play in empowering our employees. We provide our employees with access to confidential financial support through our employee assistance program as well as educational resources on financial well-being. Additionally, we aim for transparency and simplicity in our financial reporting and in our investor communications to ensure that information is accessible to all investors. I know Sheryl asked some additional questions, but we will respond to those in writing directly to her organization. But I'm very interested in the work she's doing because I think it is very important. So as schools are not providing education and financial matters, we should look for the best source of information that can be used. So thank you. Any other questions?

No further questions.

No further questions. Thank you very much. Thank you for all of your questions today. I would like to now move to the formal proceedings at the Annual General Meeting. The notice of the Annual General Meeting, together with the explanatory notes, was published and posted to shareholders on the June 6th of 2024. Accordingly, the requisite notice of the meeting has been given. I propose that with your consent, the notice of the meeting should be taken as read. Does anybody object to that proposal? There being no objections, I thank you, and the notice of the meeting has been taken as read. I am exercising the authority contained in the company's articles of association to now call for a poll to be taken on all resolutions that I put to the meeting. This is in line with best practice and gives all our shareholders the opportunity to have their votes recorded even if they are unable to attend the meeting in-person. As a reminder, those joining via webcast or telephone conference will not be able to vote during today's meeting, and we'll give them the opportunity to cast their votes in advance. I'm appointing Equiniti, the company's registrars, to act as scrutineers. When you registered at the meeting today, each shareholder, proxy and corporate representative will have been issued with a poll card. If there is anyone who thinks they should have a poll card that does not have one, please raise your hand now and someone will come and assist you. Okay. If you are a shareholder, please complete the poll card by inserting in block capitals your full name and address. If you are a proxy or corporate representative, please insert in block capitals your name and full address of the shareholder you are representing. Please indicate the way in which you wish to cast your vote in respect of each resolution by putting a cross in one of the boxes for, against or withheld. Please note that the vote withheld is not a vote in law and will not be counted. If you wish to vote only some of your shares on a particular resolution or you wish to split how you cast your vote, you should enter the number of votes being cast in the for, against or withheld column instead of a cross. Please ensure that you sign the poll card and hand it to a representative of Equiniti as you leave the room. If you have already voted [indiscernible] by proxy, then you do not need to complete the poll card unless you wish to change your vote. In which case, you can complete the poll card and your new voting instructions will be recorded. We will now proceed to vote on the resolutions, which will I -- I will formally propose to the meeting. The full text of each of the resolutions is set out in the notice of the meeting, a copy of which you will have received. Resolutions 1 to 16 are ordinary resolutions, which require a simple majority to be passed. Resolution 17 to 20 are special resolutions, which must be passed by a majority of not less than 75% of the shareholders present and voting either in per in-person or by proxy. I now formally propose all resolutions to the meeting. I declare the poll formally open. The poll will end 10 minutes after the end of the meeting. If you have any questions about filling in the poll card or if you require any other assistance, please speak to one of the registrar's representatives. The scrutineer will calculate the results at the close of the poll. These will be announced later today in the stock exchange announcement and will be published on the company's website. The proxy voting results received in advance of the meeting will also be shown on the screen. That concludes the formal business of the meeting and brings the 133rd Annual General Meeting of Johnson Matthey Plc to a close. The poll will close in 10 minutes, and I remind you to pass your completed poll card for the representative of Equiniti when leaving the room. Thank you very much on behalf of the whole Board, for joining us today either in-person, via the webcast or by telephone conference call.

Mr. Chairman, just before you close, [indiscernible] and thanks to you the way you have conducted the meeting, to the Board the way they run [indiscernible] last year as well. [indiscernible].

Thank you, and I will convey those thanks to our employees. Thank you very much.