Jefferies reinstates 'buy' rating on Johnson Matthey, shares rally

(Sharecast News) - Johnson Matthey rallied on Tuesday after Jefferies reinstated coverage of the shares with a 'buy' rating and 2,330p price target following full-year results and the Cormetech acquisition.

It said that with the sale of the Catalyst Technologies business completed and returns calendar confirmed, the story now turns to JM's own delivery rather than deal risk or macro-led sentiment.

Jefferies said completion of the CT sale removes the last disposal risk from the cash story, with de-leveraging on track.

"Practically, this means the shareholder returns are now comfortably funded and calendar-certain," it said. "The capital allocation story now leans heavily on a self-funded free cash flow ramp (guide more than �250m by 27/28, Jefferies estimate more than �300m on average from FY28) rather than regulatory-dependent proceeds or macro-dependent sentiments.

"We see the free cash flow path via capex step-down and working capital unwind as plausible, if anything conservative."

Jefferies said the margin bridge in Clean Air remains the core of the case, with management's own path working towards a 16-18% FY28 ambition, delivered through overhead reduction, footprint consolidation and commercial mix, regardless of regulation backdrop.

"In the meantime, the heavy-duty skew (more than 1/3 of the autocatalysis business consistently) is where the regulatory plus-one shows up," Jefferies said.

At 1248 BST, the shares were up 5.9% at 2,096p.