Johnson Matthey hailed steady progress in its Dundee-based electric battery technologies arm as it revealed a further $26 million investment in the sector.
The international chemicals and precious metals group acquired Wester Gourdie Industrial Estate based Axeon in a £40m deal in 2012, and the operation was rebranded as Johnson Matthey Battery Systems last year.
Johnson Matthey yesterday said JMBS which has been involved in a number of projects for major car manufacturers, including providing the battery power for the electric McLaren P1 hypercar had seen strong demand for its battery systems in its first full year after integration.
Revenues in the new businesses operation increased by £40m in the year to £79m but the division overall posted an increased operating loss for the year of £18.3m, up from the £16m deficit reported the previous year.
“Our Battery Technologies businesses comprises Johnson Matthey’s research and development (R&D) programmes in advanced battery materials and Johnson Matthey Battery Systems which specialises in the design, development and manufacture of integrated battery systems,” the firm said yesterday.
“The business made steady progress in its first full year with sales of £69m, primarily as a result of robust demand for battery systems for high-performance power tools and e-bikes.
“We have also grown sales to customers in the automotive sector. In addition we have continued to invest in battery materials R&D, expanding our current programmes and developing relationships with key partners in the supply chain. Battery Technologies broke even for the year, if acquisition costs are excluded.”
The trading update came as the group moved to increase its presence in the high-tech sector this week after completing a multi-million-pound deal to buy certain battery material manufacturing facilities of A123 Systems, a division of Chinese automotive components group Wiangxiang.
Around 80 employees will transfer to the group as a result of the deal, and the new recruits will work with JMBS’s 70-strong workforce in Dundee and more than 450 staff at a manufacturing facility in Poland on developing new products.
Johnson Matthey will also supply A123’s remaining operations with lithium iron phosphate under the agreement.
“The acquisition of the assets from A123 and the supply agreement will complement our battery systems expertise and battery materials research programmes,” the group said yesterday.
“It will further support development of the next generation of high-performance products to meet the challenging energy storage requirements of batteries for the automotive sector.”
The group as a whole saw revenues increase by 4% from £10.72 billion to £11.15bn in the year to March 31, with pre-tax profits climbing by 17% to £406.6m.
The firm is recommending a final dividend of 45.5p, increasing the overall full-year payout by 10% to 62.5p.
CEO Neil Carson, delivering his final set of results before stepping down, said Johnson Matthey had traded “well” over the past year but hurdles remained.
“In 2014/15 continued growth across the company will be offset by the adverse impact of the loss of commission revenue from Anglo Platinum and by the effect of foreign currency translation, if today’s exchange rates prevail.
“Consequently we currently expect that the group’s peformance in 2014/15 will be broadly in line with 2013/14.
“As Johnson Matthey approaches its third century of operation, we continue to apply our expertise in advanced materials and technology to innovate and improve solutions for customers in new and existing markets.”