UPDATE 1-Johnson Matthey reports strong start to year

(Adds detail, share price)

LONDON, July 22 (Reuters) - British platinum specialist Johnson Matthey (JMAT.L) said it has made a strong start to the new financial year and expects first half profit to be "well ahead" of the same period last year.

It said results had been boosted by high metal prices and strong demand for catalysts to cut vehicle pollution.

Ahead of its annual general meeting on Tuesday, the company said first quarter pretax profits to end-June were up 22 percent with revenues up 33 percent and the second quarter has begun well.

"We are benefiting from increasing global demand for products which reduce pollution and protect the environment," it said in a statement, adding that sales excluding the value of precious metals increased by 12 percent in the period.

The world's biggest distributor of platinum, which uses the metal to make ingredients for drugs and jewellery parts as well as vehicle catalysts, is benefiting from tightening legislation on emissions in Europe, the US and China.

It said catalyst sales continued to grow strongly in Asia, but sales had fallen in North America reflecting a drop in the overall demand for cars and trucks.

Johnson Matthey shares, which have underperformed the DJ Stoxx chemicals index by around 16 percent over the last year, were up 1.92 percent at 1,700 pence by 0801 GMT, valuing the business at 3,487 billion pounds.

(Reporting by Marc Roca; editing by Rory Channing)