OHB's €1.2 Billion Convertible Bet: Funding a Record Backlog Without Diluting Shareholder Trust
03.06.2026 - 13:04:38 | boerse-global.de
OHB is heading into its annual general meeting with more than routine paperwork on the agenda. The Bremen-based space group is asking shareholders for authority to issue convertible or warrant bonds and profit participation rights with a total nominal value of up to €1.2 billion. The move is designed to give management the financial firepower needed to work through a record order backlog that stood at €3.35 billion at the end of March. But the price of that flexibility could be a 20% dilution of existing equity.
To back the potential conversion or exercise of those instruments, the board wants to create new conditional capital – up to 3.84 million shares, roughly one-fifth of the current share capital. No concrete capital increase is on the table yet, but the sheer size of the authorization has turned what is often a procedural vote into a closely watched event. Shareholders have until midnight on Wednesday to submit electronic statements on the agenda item before the virtual AGM on 8 June.
The company’s own numbers argue why it needs the headroom. In the first quarter of 2026, total operating output rose 15% to €279 million, while EBITDA climbed to €25.7 million from €17.3 million a year earlier. EBIT doubled to €15.2 million. The order backlog, up almost €1 billion year-on-year, is concentrated in the Space Systems segment, which also got a lift from a €7.6 million subcontract awarded to OHB Sweden for the European EPS-Sterna weather satellite programme.
That operational momentum makes the authorization a strategic necessity, not a luxury. OHB is carrying out long-term institutional contracts from the European Space Agency and the European Union – systems like Galileo and the next-generation MetOp weather satellites – that require sustained capital deployment. The management team has set a medium-term target of roughly €3 billion in annual order intake and wants to expand in defence and large satellite constellations. Financing all that from cash flow alone is not realistic.
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Yet the same record backlog is fuelling a debate about shareholder value. OHB’s free float is only about 6%, so any shift in the share count has an outsized impact on liquidity and valuation. The stock has been volatile for that reason; relatively small trades can trigger large swings. Adding 20% more shares in theory, even if only partly issued over time, keeps the dilution risk in the spotlight.
The broader space sector is also providing a benchmark for valuations. SpaceX’s initial public offering, expected in mid-June, is pulling attention toward space stocks and setting a fresh comparison for how the market prices the industry. OHB’s story is different from Elon Musk’s growth narrative – it leans on steady, sovereign-backed contracts – but the IPO nonetheless reinforces the sector’s rising profile. For OHB, that could help sustain interest even as the dilution question lingers.
At the AGM, the dividend proposal of €0.60 per share is the other formal item, but the convertible authorization will dominate. A yes vote would give the board broad discretion to tap debt and equity-linked markets without needing another shareholder meeting for the next few years. A no vote would leave the company reliant on its existing cash generation and bank lines, potentially slowing the execution of the backlog.
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The tension is clear: OHB needs capital to deliver on its biggest order book ever, and the convertible route is the most efficient way to raise it without immediate cash outflow. But the cost, measured in potential dilution, has investors watching the vote count with unusual care for a routine resolution.
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