Powdered catalyst material contains aluminum oxide, a basic metal oxide and a precious metal as catalytically active component. Powdered catalyst material is obtained by: (a) preparing, as support material, a powdered aluminum oxide stabilized with basic oxides and having a specific surface area of more than 80 m<2>/g; (b) impregnating the support material with a solution of a precursor compound of alkaline earth or rare earth metals; (c) drying the impregnated support material and calcining at less than 800o C; (d) repeating steps (b) and (c) until the required charge with basic oxides is reached; and (e) re-impregnating the material obtained with a solution of precursor compounds of the catalytically active precious metals; and (f) drying and calcining.