ITM Power's Lingen Plant Is Running — but the Balance Sheet Still Leans on Patience
Published on 11/01/2026 at 18:10 | Editorial boerse-global.de
A 10% slide in ITM Power shares on Friday says less about the company's engineering than about the gap investors must bridge between hydrogen ambition and hard numbers. The fall came without a specific trigger, yet it landed in the same week that the Sheffield-based group could point to genuine progress on the ground: its first 100 MW plant in Lingen is already operational.
That contrast — real hardware on one side, a still-unprofitable business on the other — is the crux of the ITM Power story right now. The company is no longer merely announcing projects; it is commissioning them. What it has not yet done is turn that momentum into positive earnings.
From Commissioning to Commitment
The Lingen site illustrates the distinction neatly. One 100 MW unit is up and running. A second unit of identical capacity is slated for completion in fiscal 2027 — a company forecast rather than a finished fact. Investors would do well to keep the two in separate mental columns.
The same applies to the refinery venture unveiled by subsidiary Hydropulse on 12 October. That agreement with a European oil refiner covers a 150 MW green hydrogen project and is designed to run for ten years. It remains a framework arrangement, with a final investment decision targeted for 2027 and production pencilled in for 2029. A memorandum of understanding is a step along the development path, not the end of it.
Should investors sell immediately? Or is it worth buying ITM Power?
The Numbers Behind the Narrative
ITM Power's preliminary figures for fiscal 2026, released on 19 October, set the benchmark. Revenue came in at ÂŁ43.6 million, against an adjusted EBITDA loss of ÂŁ20.2 million. Growth, in other words, has not yet translated into an operating profit.
Management's guidance for fiscal 2027 points to further top-line expansion, with revenue seen at £50 million to £60 million. The bottom line, however, stays in the red: an adjusted EBITDA loss of £17 million to £20 million is forecast. Profitability is not on the table in that outlook — only a narrower shortfall.
Liquidity offers a cushion. ITM Power closed fiscal 2026 with ÂŁ215.6 million in cash and an order book of ÂŁ144.0 million. For fiscal 2027, the company expects liquid funds of ÂŁ170 million to ÂŁ180 million. Cash on hand and operating profit answer different questions, and neither should be allowed to obscure the other.
ITM Power at a turning point? This analysis reveals what investors need to know now.
What the Analysts Are Watching
Peel Hunt cut its price target on 22 October to 88 pence from 92 pence, flagging execution risk and the challenge of converting projects into firm orders. Hydrogen schemes, the broker noted, are moving more slowly than anticipated. That is a fair description of the pressure points — though it would be a stretch to pin Friday's decline on a research note published days earlier.
The yardstick for ITM Power, then, is not the size of its next announcement. It is whether planned projects reach their next binding milestones and whether the promised growth arrives alongside smaller losses. The hydrogen vision supplies the framework; delivery has to supply the value.
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