Johnson Matthey, the platinum specialist, warned this morning that second half profits could be as much as 15 per cent below last year due to the slowdown in the global car industry.

The company, which makes catalysts out of the metal, said that with a drop in global car production of around 11 per cent compared with last year, it expects underlying pre-tax profits for the next six months to be 5 per cent to 15 per cent lower than the previous financial year.

The car industry has been one of the worst hit by the financial crisis as consumers low on confidence and credit baulk at buying pricey items.

Johnson also warned that profits from its Platinum Marketing and Distribution business would be lower in the second half of the year due the recent sharp commodity sell off, which has hit platinum prices.

However, for the six months to September 30 the company said pre-tax profits rose 17 per cent to £140.3 million, while revenues grew 24 per cent to £4.4 billion, buoyed by higher platinum prices in the earlier part of the period. The company will increase its interim dividend by 5 per cent to 11.1p.

Shares rose 9.5 per cent, up 68.5p, to 791p after first half results met expectations and guidance about how the company would be hit by the troubled car industry was no worse than feared.

Looking forward the group said it was more difficult to predict how the global economy would develop but that the longer-term drivers of its business, such as environmental legislation for its emission control division, remained and the company was well positioned to weather the current economic downturn.

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