Warren East's Insider Purchase Meets ITM Power’s Scottish Gamble
Published on 07/01/2026 at 20:02 | Redaktion boerse-global.de
A former Rolls-Royce chief has put nearly £200,000 of his own money into ITM Power, even as the hydrogen specialist’s stock endures a sharp monthly decline and investors weigh a strategic partnership that remains far from contractually locked in.
Sir Warren East, who led chip designer ARM until 2013 and then engineered a turnaround at Rolls-Royce through late 2022, acquired 172,000 shares at roughly ÂŁ1.15 apiece in late June. The purchase, executed on the open market, amounts to a personal stake of about ÂŁ197,000 and marks his only holding in the company, according to regulatory filings. East now sits on ITM's supervisory board alongside a seat at ASML, the Dutch semiconductor equipment giant.
The insider buying comes as a welcome counterweight to the recent price action. The stock lost more than seven percent on Wednesday alone, slipping to €1.52, and has shed around 30 percent over the past month. That puts it 38 percent below its May peak of €2.58, though the year-to-date performance remains impressive at a 109 percent gain.
A Partnership Yet to Deliver Certainty
While East’s vote of confidence bolsters sentiment, the market’s primary anxiety revolves around a framework agreement with UK hydrogen developer Protium. The two firms are evaluating deployment models for a series of British hydrogen projects, starting with the Cromarty facility in Scotland. The final investment decision is pencilled in for December 2026 — meaning a wait of more than two years before the deal’s commercial substance becomes clear.
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Under the arrangement, ITM could either supply equipment or take a more active role through its Hydropulse subsidiary. Protium handles power procurement, permits and offtake. Crucially, the partnership has received state backing: Cromarty secured funding in the first UK hydrogen allocation round, giving it a concrete foundation that goes beyond paper studies.
Nevertheless, the company itself stresses that the evaluation phase is ongoing. ITM has previously reported strong customer interest in new products without converting that into firm orders, and the first half of the financial year saw positive market feedback but no corresponding sales. Analysts caution that such project timelines often move far slower than equity markets anticipate.
Berenberg Doubles Its Target
Against the backdrop of insider buying and partnership uncertainty, Berenberg has emerged as a notable bull. The private bank more than doubled its price target on ITM shares to 200 pence from 110 pence, citing the strategic potential of the Rheinmetall collaboration on the Giga-PtX project. That call implies substantial upside from the current level, assuming the Protium partnership and other commercial advances bear fruit.
The stock’s chart tells a story of heightened volatility — almost 113 percent annualised — with technical support levels that will determine the next directional move. The 50-day moving average at €1.76 has already been lost, but the 100-day trend line at €1.28 remains intact, as does the 200-day average at €1.05, which supports the medium-term recovery narrative.
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The Decisive Catalyst Ahead
For now, the market is pricing an option rather than a certainty. If the Cromarty project moves toward a positive FID, ITM will have demonstrated an ability to shift from one-off equipment sales to a recurring project pipeline — a transformation that would justify the year-to-date gains and attract more institutional interest. Conversely, any delay or sign that the partnership is stalling could extend the current correction, punishing a stock that has already risen sharply in 2025.
East’s insider purchase provides a powerful signal that those closest to the business see value in the current volatility. But the verdict on ITM Power’s broader investment case will ultimately be written in Scotland, and the deadline is December 2026.
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