LONDON, June 11, 2026, 15:03 BST
- Ceres Power brought in £103 million by selling 18 million new shares at 570p, which is a 6.5% discount to its June 9 close of 609.5p.
- Shares traded under the placing price on Thursday, delayed market quotes showed, so focus stayed on dilution over the improved balance sheet.
- Ceres is directing the money to expand solid oxide fuel cell output, help partners scale, and build a component site as it looks to turn AI data-centre power use into business wins.
Ceres Power Holdings plc stock fell again Thursday after the company wrapped up a £103 million equity placing. The clean-energy firm now has more cash to target the AI data-centre power market, but the new share sale put pressure on the price. Hargreaves Lansdown showed a 555.5p sell price and 558.5p to buy, off 13p, or 2.27%. Shares traded below the 570p fundraising offer.
Ceres Power issued 18 million new ordinary shares, around 9.2% of its earlier share capital. The shares priced at 570p, which is 6.5% under the 609.5p close on June 9, giving the stock a lower point right away. The move was more than a balance-sheet top up, it shifts the reference level for the stock.
Ceres said institutional investors bought 17,788,949 placing shares, with retail taking 180,000 shares through RetailBook. Directors put in for 31,051 shares. Ceres called the raise oversubscribed. But trading on Thursday showed the market still wants to know if the new cash can get commercialisation moving fast enough to make up for dilution.
Ceres CEO Phil Caldwell said the fresh funds are a “clear opportunity to capitalise on commercial momentum” and added the firm is keeping its tech platform as its main focus for industry standard in solid oxide systems. The company plans to use about £100 million in net proceeds for speeding up work on solid oxide fuel cells, boosting its balance sheet, and making selective investments to back partner scale-up, with a focus on protecting key intellectual property. Investegate
Solid oxide fuel cells, or SOFCs, make electricity via an electrochemical reaction instead of burning fuel. Ceres says its tech lets data centers, industrials, and commercial sites get faster access to on-site power, avoiding the wait for grid upgrades. In its fundraising pitch, the company said grid hookups can need a decade or more, gas turbines at least five to seven years, and small modular nuclear is a seven-to-ten-year process.
That’s the growth investors are buying into. The International Energy Agency says data-centre power use will more than double by 2030, hitting about 945 terawatt-hours, with AI driving the jump. Ceres’ fundraising pitch projects annual SOFC demand to hit 22 gigawatts by 2030, but that’s from the company’s own case to investors, not a signed contract.
Ceres gets more runway from the raise. The company said net proceeds will go with its unaudited cash and short-term investments, which stood at £78.7 million on May 31. That gives it more flexibility as Ceres stays in the expensive stretch between early tech and consistent commercial sales.
Ceres posted a drop in revenue to £32.6 million for 2025 from £51.9 million last year, according to its full-year numbers. The company booked a full-year loss of £47.5 million. Cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments stood at £83.3 million at year-end. Ceres booked its first royalties in the period and reported an adjusted EBITDA loss of £32.5 million.
Ceres is set to have 213,797,576 ordinary shares in issue after the new shares are admitted. Dilution is clear here. Now, any future upside will be split across more shareholders. The market wants to see if the extra cash can drive licensing, new partner manufacturing, or more component revenue.
Ceres is betting on data-centre demand for power, but its plans still hinge on partners ramping up manufacturing and customers signing up for deployments. Fuel-cell costs need to stack up as well. If licence talks drag out or partners hold back on spending, the new capital just stretches out the timeline while the company keeps losing money. Shares finished Thursday below the placing price, signaling investors aren’t seeing the cash call as a firm vote of confidence.
Ceres faces another key date on Friday, June 12. That’s when the new capital-raise shares are set to start trading in London at 8:00 a.m. What matters after that is if Ceres uses its bigger balance sheet for actual partner scale-up, new licences, and real revenue, not just more future hopes in a jumpy stock.
