Johnson Matthey Q3 sales down slightly

Feb 3 (Reuters) - Johnson Matthey (LSE: JMAT.L - news) reported a slight drop in third-quarter sales on Wednesday and said tough market conditions will limit its short-term growth opportunities.

Johnson Matthey, the world's biggest maker of catalysts for car emission-control devices, said group sales for the quarter to end December totalled 736 million pounds ($1 billion), down from 745 million a year earlier.

"Looking ahead, the challenging macroeconomic conditions, which have worsened slightly since our half-year results in November, are expected to limit the group's short-term growth opportunities," the company said in a statement.

Johnson Matthey, which makes most of its profits from the sale of platinum-rich catalysts, has benefited in recent years from tighter European regulation on emissions, boosting demand for more value-added catalysts.

($1 = 0.6927 pounds) (Reporting by Olivia Kumwenda-Mtambo; editing by Jason Neely)