I am delighted to be writing to you for the first time as Chairman of Johnson Matthey and to be introducing this annual report on what has been another successful year for your company.
Having joined your board as a non-executive director on 1st January 2006, I am honoured to have been appointed as Chairman from 1st April. I also consider myself extremely fortunate to be joining the company at such an exciting time in the development of its businesses. With its focus on products and technologies that benefit the environment, reduce energy consumption, provide alternative energy solutions for the future and treat life threatening diseases, Johnson Matthey is without any doubt a company that can make a real difference to improving the quality of life of people around the world.
Over the last few months I have had the opportunity of meeting with a number of Johnson Matthey’s major shareholders and I have received very positive feedback from each one of these meetings. I look forward to meeting other shareholders at this year’s Annual General Meeting and to having the opportunity of discussing your company’s businesses and its performance with you at that time.
As Chairman of your board, I see my role as ensuring that the company delivers performance in line with shareholders’ expectations and continues to create superior shareholder value. Johnson Matthey has a good reputation for the quality of its corporate governance and for its reporting on all aspects of its operations. I intend to build on this reputation and to ensure that all shareholders have full information on all aspects of the company’s activities and achievements.
I would like to take this opportunity to pay tribute to my predecessor, Michael Miles. Michael served as a non-executive director of Johnson Matthey for 16 years, the last eight of which as Chairman. Under his leadership the company was refocused on its core skills in catalysts, precious metals and fine chemicals and has emerged as a world leading speciality chemicals company. Throughout his service as Chairman, Michael oversaw excellent progress towards the board’s main objective of delivering superior value to its shareholders.
Over the 16 years that Michael Miles served on the board he made a major contribution to its work and that of its committees. His vast amount of overseas business experience, particularly his experience of the Far East, has been invaluable as the company has expanded its operations in Asia and in other markets around the world. On behalf of all of us at Johnson Matthey, I would like to thank Michael for his important contribution to the success of the company and to wish him all the very best for his retirement.
Johnson Matthey has a very strong executive team led by our Chief Executive, Neil Carson. As I have travelled around the group worldwide, I have been struck by the enthusiasm, professionalism and dedication of everyone that I have met. I know that this reflects the investment that the company makes in the training and development of its people. We continue to place an absolute priority on nurturing our management talent and on the development of the skills of people at all levels of the organisation, to equip them to meet the challenges of the future and ensure that we benefit from the opportunities before us. On your behalf, I would like to thank all of our employees around the world for their hard work and dedication during the past year.
Your board has a long standing commitment to reporting on Johnson Matthey’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) performance. A comprehensive review of the group’s policies and performance in this very important area is to be found in the CSR section of this annual report. This year our CSR presentation includes a case study on Johnson Matthey’s role in low carbon technologies, an area that is attracting a great deal of attention as concerns over global warming and high energy prices continue to hit the headlines. We are also publishing the fourth edition of our full web report on CSR. This continues to be well received by key stakeholders in your company, and generates much very useful feedback; it can be accessed on the company’s website at www.matthey.com.
In short, the prospects for your company over the next few years are very encouraging. Johnson Matthey is in good shape and continues to make excellent progress towards the delivery of superior shareholder value. The company is well positioned to benefit from a number of exciting opportunities in its core businesses driven by environmental concerns, high oil prices and emerging technologies. I look forward to reporting on a successful 2006/07 and to the company continuing to achieve good growth over the years ahead.

Sir John Banham
Chairman

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