OHB's Shareholders Hand Management a €1.2 Billion Blank Cheque for the Satellite Assembly Line

OHB SE shareholders approve €1.2B financing to scale spacecraft production; stock up 220% YTD but volatile, with dilution risk. Dividend unchanged at €0.60.

Space is a capital-intensive business, and OHB SE is tooling up for mass production. At the company's annual general meeting in Bremen, shareholders voted overwhelmingly to empower the board with a fresh financing mandate worth up to €1.2 billion. The resolution authorises the issuance of convertible bonds, profit-participation certificates and warrants — a suite of instruments designed to fund a leap from bespoke spacecraft construction to industrial-scale series manufacturing.

The market's immediate reaction was a sharp reminder of the stock's hair-trigger nature. Shares closed at €389.50 on Tuesday, still up more than 220% since the start of the year, but the annualised volatility sits at a stomach-churning 146%. The stock has already plunged 44% from its May record of €688, and the new capital programme injects fresh uncertainty over potential dilution.

Shareholders were not left empty-handed in the short term. The AGM confirmed a dividend of €0.60 per share for the past financial year, unchanged from the prior year. That steady payout comes against a backdrop of rapid operational expansion: the order book stood at €3.35 billion at the end of March, with Space Systems contributing nearly €2.7 billion of that total. First-quarter group revenue climbed to around €279 million, while adjusted operating profit rose to €16.8 million.

The supervisory board is also being reshaped for the growth push. Dr Theodor Weimer, a seasoned German finance executive, joins the three-member control panel, replacing the departing Claire Wellby. His three-year mandate is seen by analysts as a step towards deeper financial discipline within the company. Operational leadership is also evolving: Luis Alejandro Orellano will take over as chief operating officer in July 2026.

The new capital framework specifically allows the board to issue up to 576,447 subscription rights, representing a maximum of 3% of existing share capital. That detail matters to retail investors who watch for dilution risk. The broader €1.2 billion ceiling covers convertible and option bonds as well as equity-linked instruments, giving management wide latitude to tap debt or equity markets as projects crystallise.

One such project already in the pipeline is the European Space Agency's RAMSES planetary defence mission. OHB is assembling the core module in its Bremen clean room for a launch scheduled in early 2028. The target is asteroid Apophis, which will pass close to Earth in 2029. That mission will test OHB's ability to deliver complex hardware on a tight timeline — and the success or failure of such high-profile contracts will determine whether the new financing capacity is used wisely.

With €1.2 billion of firepower approved and the order backlog bulging, the pressure is on OHB's management to convert paper mandates into smooth-running production lines. For a stock that has already delivered a 220% year-to-date gain, the next leg of the journey will depend on execution, not just ambition.