Johnson Matthey Share News (JMAT)

- CEO of 10 years to step down, FD to take over- Q3 sales up 12 per cent, excluding precious metal- Second-half trading to be ahead of previous guidanceNeil Carson, the long-running boss of chemicals and precious metals firm Johnson Matthey, is to step down this summer and will be replaced by current Finance Director Robert MacLeod.The news came as the group gave an upbeat outlook for the second half of its financial year, saying that its performance will be ahead of previous expectations.Carson has been with the company for 34 years, working as Chief Executive since 2004. He will step down when the group announces its full-year results in June but will remain on the board until September to ensure a smooth handover."The business is in excellent shape and I am very pleased to be handing it over to such a competent and able team led by Robert," Carson said.MacLeod has been working as Finance Director since 2009. Succession plans are said to be well advanced for his position.Third-quarter sales rise 12%Johnson Matthey said that trading during the third quarter ended December 31st 2013 was "good", with sales excluding precious metals 12% ahead of the previous year at £708m and underlying pre-tax profit up 16% at £96m.This was driven by another strong performance from the Emission Control Technologies (ECT) division which accounts for over a half of group revenues.ECT sales rose 15% to £397m helped by a pick-up in growth in light duty vehicle catalysts sales to 11% and 26% growth in heavy duty diesel catalyst sales.The Process Technologies, Fine Chemicals and New Businesses divisions also registered growth year-on-year.Sales from the Precious Metal Products division, however, fell by 2% to £95m as a result of weak commodity prices and poor intake volumes at the gold and silver refineries, along with "subdued" trading conditions in Europe. Looking ahead, sales from this division are expected to reduce by £10m per quarter due the expiry of its long-standing contracts with Anglo Platinum - as previously announced - which ceased at the end of 2013.Nevertheless, Johnson Matthey said that excluding the loss of the Anglo Platinum contracts, "the group's performance in the second half will be slightly ahead of that of the first six months of the year".At the time of its interim report in November 2013, the group said second-half trading would be "in line" with the first six months of the year.BC