Ceres Power Holdings PLC

Ceres Power said it remains confident of signing a new manufacturing licensee this year as demand grows for on-site power generation, particularly from data centers facing long equipment and grid-connection lead times. Chief Executive Officer Phil Caldwell said existing licensees are advancing toward commercial production: Doosan Fuel Cell in South Korea secured its first export order, a contract to supply stacks to Germany's Reverion valued at about £60 million, while Delta Electronics is progressing initial production at its Tainan facility and has announced plans for a larger manufacturing site in the Guanyin District of Taiwan, and Weichai is targeting initial production later this year or early next year with an objective of reaching 200 megawatts of production capacity by the end of the following year. Chief Financial Officer Stuart Paynter said Ceres achieved about half of its £45 million contracted-revenue guidance in the first half and remains confident it can deliver the full target in the second half, while research and development costs fell to about £18 million in the first half of 2026 from about £25 million a year earlier. The company raised more than £100 million through an oversubscribed equity issuance during the first half and now has 350 to 370 employees across its Horsham and Redhill operations following a transformation program that began in the fourth quarter of 2025. Management reiterated its target of securing, on average, one new manufacturing license agreement every 12 months, and said royalties are currently not material but are expected to grow from next year and become more significant in 2028 and 2029 as partners reach larger production volumes.

European stock exchange-traded funds posted positive net flows in July, their first month of inflows since the US-Iran conflict started in late February, according to Bloomberg data. BlackRock reported that its European equities products attracted $4.4 billion in July, describing the flows as anti-momentum allocations away from volatile chipmaker stocks. A strong earnings season and easing oil prices have renewed investor appetite for the region, with companies in the Stoxx Europe 600 on track for 22% year-on-year earnings growth in the second quarter, the strongest since 2022. UBS raised its year-end target for the Stoxx 600 to 690 points from 630, implying roughly 5% further upside, while Goldman Sachs projects 168% upside for UK clean energy developer Ceres Power and 102% for German defense contractor Rheinmetall over 12 months. The Stoxx 600 has gained 10.7% in 2026 and touched a record 663.4 points this month, with Germany's Dax, the FTSE 100, France's Cac 40, and Spain's Ibex also reaching highs.