OHB’s Record Backlog Can’t Mask a Capital Conundrum as Shareholders Vote on €1.2 Billion Plan
Published on 06/08/2026 at 03:13 | Redaktion boerse-global.de
A pair of powerful currents are converging this week at German space contractor OHB SE. On one side, the order book stands at an all-time high of €3.35 billion, and the stock has more than tripled since January. On the other, a shareholder meeting on Tuesday will decide whether to hand the board the authority to issue up to €1.2 billion in convertible or warrant bonds—a move the company argues is essential for future growth but that critics warn could dilute existing investors by as much as a fifth.
The virtual annual general meeting comes at a particularly sensitive moment. Financier KKR, which holds roughly 29% of OHB’s shares, has publicly stated its intention to sell about 20 percentage points of that stake by the end of June 2026. That exit would lift the free float from a wafer-thin 6% to around 26%, flooding the market with supply and exacerbating the stock’s already extreme volatility. Seven banks are preparing the placement, though an initial attempt was postponed.
Opposition to the capital plans has been coordinated. The German Association for the Protection of Shareholders (DSW) is urging votes against several agenda items, citing the lack of a firm cap on executive pay. The proposed dividend of €0.60 per share is expected to pass without controversy, but the convertible bond resolution has become the flashpoint. KKR’s impending sale adds an extra layer of uncertainty: even if the authorization is approved, the market will have to digest a secondary offering at the same time.
Should investors sell immediately? Or is it worth buying OHB SE?
Operationally, OHB is firing on all cylinders. Revenue in the first quarter rose 15% year-on-year to €279.3 million, driven largely by the Space Systems division, which alone carried a backlog of €2.68 billion. The company is a key beneficiary of European space programmes and rising defence budgets. Management has set a revenue target of more than €2 billion by 2028.
A notable recent win is the RAMSES mission, for which the European Space Agency and Japan’s JAXA are jointly sending a probe to the asteroid Apophis. OHB Italia is building the core module in Milan under a contract valued at €81.2 million, with the overall framework including preparatory work reaching around €150 million. The asteroid is due to pass Earth at just 32,000 kilometres in April 2029.
Yet the share price tells a tale of two halves. After peaking at €688 on 21 May—a gain of roughly 207% year-to-date—the stock has slumped nearly 46% to close at €372.50 on Friday. That single-day drop of 9.15% extended the seven-day slide to nearly 15%. The annualised 30-day volatility of 142% underscores how tightly the thin free float magnifies every piece of news.
Immediate catalysts lie ahead. From Wednesday, OHB will be at the ILA Berlin air show, where it plans to announce new mission contracts. Then, on 1 July, the launch window opens for the maiden flight of the RFA ONE rocket built by subsidiary Rocket Factory Augsburg. A successful lift-off would sharply reduce the company’s reliance on third-party launchers for its small-satellite business. Whether those operational milestones can redirect attention from the capital markets drama is the question shareholders are now weighing.
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