dog-with-fleas
15 Feb 2018
Re: Self promotion [link]
Hardboy
14 Feb 2018
Re: Self promotion To my understanding JM have never been directly involved with developing Fuel Cells. Many, many companies have been - most of them long since gone bust, but those remaining are finally getting near to commercially sellable products. However I believe, JM have always had a near monopoly on supplying catalysts to the Fuel Cell Companies.
dog-with-fleas
14 Feb 2018
Re: Self promotion Hardboy, JM has a terrible record of new product developments and Fuel Cells epitomises that. Hopefully there's a re focus of priorities and more risk taking.
dog-with-fleas
14 Feb 2018
Re: Self promotion It doesn't look as if he's been designing many industrial processes since graduating 
Hardboy
12 Feb 2018
Re: Self promotion DWF,Thanks for posting that. I didn't see the bit about pushing fuel cells: maybe I skipped too quickly. In the short term I expect the car market go from petrol/diesel to hybrid to electric, rather than a straight move petrol/diesel to electric, which should be good for JM, as it encompasses best of both worlds.
Hydrogen Economy
12 Feb 2018
Re: Self promotion JMAT needs an engineer in charge, not an accountant.From the Sunday Times piece copied by dwf, it looks like he is both, or at least he qualified as a Chemical Engineer at Cambridge then went to work as a trainee accountant with KPMG. Maybe that gives some insight to the UK's industrial performance.H2CVAge 53Education MSc chemical engineering, Cambridge UniversityCareer: 1987 KPMG, trainee acccountant; 1993-4 Enterprise Oil, a variety of roles, including M&A manager; 2003 WS Atkins, financial controller, finance director; 2009 Johnson Matthey, finance director, chief executive.
dog-with-fleas
12 Feb 2018
Re: Self promotion Article cu and pasted from The Sunday Times:My comment: Although a decent PR piece, this business area has Fuel Cells written all over it which is an utter embarrassment for this PLc. The company is far too inward looking and slow to react to changes in the market landscape. This is because it has accountants running the show who are fixated with balance sheets today rather than tomorrow. ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- -------Electric vehicles provide spark for Johnson Matthey’s next big ideaBattery technology is set to be at the heart of the chemicals group’s future, says its chief executive Robert MacLeodRobin PagnamentaFebruary 9 2018, 5
0pm, The TimesRobert Macleod said that growing demand for electric vehicles would open the market for Johnson Matthey’s chemicals and reverse a downward slide in its share priceRobert Macleod said that growing demand for electric vehicles would open the market for Johnson Matthey’s chemicals and reverse a downward slide in its share priceBen Gurr for The TimesPresented with steaming coffee in a Mr Happy mug, Robert MacLeod looked momentarily perturbed. “I am happy,” the chief executive of Johnson Matthey insisted. “I don’t have to be reminded I’m happy.”The 53-year-old Scot could be forgiven for being a little less than cheerful about the chemicals company’s share price. Since his appointment in June 2014, the stock market has risen by 4.32 per cent, but shares in Johnson Matthey have sagged nearly 1.2 per cent lower. It was one of the notable fallers in the FTSE 100 yesterday, down 4.4 per cent at one stage. But Mr MacLeod believes that he has found the formula to pep up the 200-year-old business.The problem was this: Johnson Matthey, a company with 13,000 staff in 30 countries and sales of £3.5 billion a year, had grown heavily dependent on the chemicals used by the car industry to make catalytic converters, which generate about 60 per cent of its sales. “It has become a very strong part of our business in a very consolidated market.” Yet investors have grown skittish about the future of this market and Johnson Matthey’s heavy exposure to it, as the motor industry prepares for a shift to electric vehicles and as sales of diesel cars in Europe have collapsed amid rising concerns over emissions.Mr MacLeod believes that it’s time for a change of strategy and is placing a big bet on electric battery technology, which he believes represents the company’s future. “We are in a unique transition with the evolution of the [automotive] power train. It’s a very exciting and interesting time for the company and the industry.”With billions of dollars being ploughed by the world’s big carmakers, the likes of Ford, Toyota, Tesla and more, into electric vehicle research, a global race is under way to develop the best technology. Mr MacLeod believes that Johnson Matthey’s long-established expertise in research and development and its knowhow in chemicals manufacturing can make a unique contribution.At the centre of his plans is enhanced lithium nickel oxide, which he claims is the best cathode material available for use in electric vehicle batteries, offering superior range, performance and efficiency, as well as safety and reliability. The average electric vehicle needs 50kg to 120kg of this cathode material and Johnson Matthey is making a push to become a leading player in the sector.And the potential prizes on offer could be huge. Last year the number of electric cars exceeded two million. The International Energy Agency predicts that this figure could reach 140 million by 2030 — which is why this summer Mr MacLeod expects to approve a £200 million investment in a manufacturing plant for the material, probably located in Asia, where increasingly tough Chinese emissions rules are driving robust demand for electric vehicles. The modular plant could be increased in size to m
schwee
11 Feb 2018
Self promotion CEO singing his own praises in yesterday's Times. Funnily enough he didn't mention the £50m settlement he has just paid out, let alone explain it. JMAT needs an engineer in charge, not an accountant.
Hydrogen Economy
01 Feb 2018
Re: Cummins Agreement I think it is a bit difficult to say at this point whether this is a good deal because :-- No price indicated- It seems a little odd to sell after acquiring companies and making great play of the potential in the field. There has been little commercial success to show for it, the sale might imply some lack of confidence in JM about the ability to develop and market profitable commercial products. There is no clarity on whether JMs Lithium Nickle Oxide products will compete with some of the alternative materials.- Cummings? As an engine manufacturer (mainly diesel), they are right in the firing line for substitution by BEVs, they recently bought Brammo, a low voltage battery supplier but they don't seem to be bringing much to the business in terms of specialist capability or market access, just a pressing need to be in the battery/EV market. (Cummings press release on the purchase below). The logic looks right for them, not sure what it does for JM, unless of course they paid a whopping price. [link] - Also a bit disappointing to see another UK Co offloading R&D driven business, even though it has not yet proved to be a leader. - This may turn out to be a good move, for shareholders sake I hope so (currently no position)H2
Rhigos
31 Jan 2018
Re: Cummins Agreement This looks like a really great deal. JMAT are not ending their development of high performance batteries. From RNS: 'Johnson Matthey is able to focus on developing high energy battery materials, including its class-leading enhanced lithium nickel oxide (eLNO) product, for transport applications within its overall technology portfolio.'In March last year I sold 60% of my JMAT because I was overweight in them and SP had not moved up for some time. I first bought JMAT in 2001 so am a long time fan of this very solid company.
Hardboy
31 Jan 2018
Cummins Agreement Although no commercial details are given presumably JM will get some ackers for the sale and it sounds like a sensible arrangement. JM concentrate on what they do well - developing metal based products and Cummins do what they do well. It keeps JM in the electric car business but as a supplier to battery makers.
Hardboy
03 Jan 2018
Electric Car Market A recent article in the Independent which someone sent me, covered a trip to Mazda. Interestingly their view is a lot slower change to electric."Kogai (Mazda's President & CEO) puts the pure electric vehicle share of the new car market at a mere 10 per cent by 2035"
Hardboy
02 Jan 2018
FAO Games "I think the uptick in their share price recently was largely due to the announcement of a couple hundred million investment in battery development. It was a very late announcement in my view, given the years their management have been beaten up to do something more serious. I get the distinct impression that they have picked the wrong horse for the battery methodology, compared to the likes of Umicore with NMC technology. The switch also to hybrid's doesn't really help JMAT, given the petrol engine emmissions control (via CAT) is a lot less valuable than Diesel. The petrol engines in a hybrid are tiny and are solely for battery recharge purposes. JMAT's fuel cell division has yielded very little, the battery division is still loss making and the investment falls well short competition -- JMAT may have picked the wrong battery technology"All good points Games. Being late to developing technology is not always a bad thing: joining the game when the rules are a lot clearer saves a lot of wasted time & effort. It's still developing and the final most popular battery type is still not clear; but it's potentially a huge market and there is scope for JMAT to pick up a fair chunk of it. Take your point about diesel, but diesel engines for larger vehicles is not going anywhere for a few more years. The point about hybrids is they potentially have business on both sides of the technology. Fuel Cell markets is minute at the moment, but a lot of companies have done a lot of development work over the last 10-20 years, and the results are finally beginning to look as if commercial units are now a realistic reality. Last time I studied that market in detail (some time ago) J MAT had a monopoly on catalysts. And I still think there is a real possibility that it will be fuel cells rather than batteries which drive most electric vehicles 20 years hence. My choice of JMAT was more because there is a sound business in place which isn't going to disappear; but there are some areas of potential which could be massive. So it's more of a downside risk limited, upside potential considerably larger; rather than being a share I've got utmost confidence in. But, businesses can change in an instance, though no fault of anyone directly involved - as Compass shows today. Tragic news.
gamesinvestor
06 Dec 2017
30% drop in diesel in November [link] car industry has launched a stinging attack on the “demonisation” of diesel by government after sales of vehicles powered by the fuel plunged by almost a third.New car registrations data recorded an eighth consecutive month of decline in November, dropping 11.2pc on the same month last year.The figures collated by industry trade group the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) recorded registrations - a proxy for sales - of 163,541, hit by uncertainty caused by Brexit."""""This is the UK, other countries?Games
gamesinvestor
27 Nov 2017
Re: Tesla Promises Break Laws of Batteries "if JMAT start making some real progress and sales"maybe this requires them to adopt the technology that's taking off, as illustrated by previous articles, and not what JMAT keep plugging, so to speak.They seem consistently to be avoiding the approach the Chinese are adopting and the Belgians seem to be going along with nicely.Games
