MARKET REPORT: Johnson Matthey rallies after shake-up demand

Shares in chemicals group Johnson Matthey rallied after its largest investor branded bosses ‘complacent and incapable’ and called for a shake-up.

Standard Investments, which owns 11 per cent of the FTSE 250 firm, urged the board to launch a strategic review to look at ‘a sale of part or all of the company’.

In an open letter, the New York-based investor also called for the appointment of non-executive directors to the board.

‘Over the past two years, we have directly engaged with the board and management regarding the many challenges facing the company,’ said a spokesman for Standard Investments.

‘Despite our patient and constructive approach, the board and management remain complacent and incapable of correcting a misguided strategy that has delivered sustained underperformance. This has created a massive credibility gap with investors and the broader market.’

Shares in the maker of catalytic converters for cars rose 3.3 per cent, or 45p, to 1397p. But they are still down 16 per cent this year and more than 60 per cent since their peak in 2018.

‘Immediate action must be taken to prevent further value degradation for shareholders,’ the Standard Investments spokesman said.

Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said: ‘The market seems to welcome Standard Investments’ intervention and that may hint at the potential for success in its efforts to secure new voices on the board and radically shake-up the business.’

The FTSE 100 fell 0.46 per cent, or 38.28 points, to 8262.05 and the FTSE 250 lost 0.36 per cent, or 76.12 points, to 20,813.03.

Shares in British Airways owner IAG continued to gain altitude with the stock up another 1.1 per cent, or 3.2p, to 296.4p. 

That took gains so far this year to 91pc and left the shares at the highest level since Covid-19 ground planes worldwide in March 2020.

NatWest also continued its impressive run, rising 0.2 per cent, or 0.7p, to 406.2p.

Bunzl, which supplies everyday products such as loo roll, disposable cups and hard hats, gained 1.1 per cent, or 38p, to 3558p after RBC upgraded the stock. 

Drug maker GSK received a boost as its Jemperli drug for the treatment of rectal cancer reached a regulatory milestone in the US. Share slid 0.8 per cent, or 10p, to 1319.5p.

Fellow FTSE 100 pharma giant AstraZeneca added 0.5 per cent, or 56p, to 10524p after it appointed Rene Haas, the chief executive of chipmaker Arm, to its board as a non-executive director.

Back in the second tier, biotechnology company Puretech Health jumped 4.4 per cent, or 7.2p, to 170p after successful trials of its lung disease drug.

But Computacenter tumbled 3.1 per cent, or 70p, to 2168p after it announced that chief financial officer Christian Jehle was stepping down with immediate effect.

Camera and film firm Videndum slumped 19.9 per cent, or 51p, to 205p after it warned the ‘recovery in our markets continues to be slower than expected’. Last year’s Hollywood strikes hit the firm.