OHB’s Ramses Mission Advances as Stock Tumbles 24% on Stalled Placement and Paper-Thin Liquidity

While engineers at OHB Italia signed a contract for the communications antenna of the Ramses asteroid probe, the company’s stock was suffering its worst week in months. The contrast between operational progress and market turbulence could hardly be starker.

The antenna deal, inked with Munich-based HPS GmbH at the SmallSat Conference in Amsterdam, marks the hardware phase for the joint ESA-JAXA mission. Ramses is scheduled to launch in April 2028 and rendezvous with asteroid Apophis in February 2029. OHB Italia landed the prime construction contract from ESA in February 2026 for €81.2 million, with preparatory work from 2024 pushing the total value to around €150 million. The Italian subsidiary, which carries its own backlog of €412 million and notches annual revenue of €172 million, is a key contributor to the group.

Back on the trading floor, the picture was bleak. OHB shares closed Friday at €442.50, down 5.25% on the day and extending the weekly rout to roughly 24% from the May 21 peak of €688. The trigger came on May 27, when the stock plunged nearly 16% intraday after a planned block trade by major shareholder KKR was pulled at the last minute. The private equity firm, which holds almost 29% of OHB, had aimed to offload about 20 percentage points to lift the free float from a meager 6% to 26%. Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs and J.P. Morgan were lined up as bookrunners, with Rothschild advising. No new date has been set for the placement.

The extreme price swings are a structural feature of OHB’s capital base. Only 5.68% of the roughly 19 million shares are freely tradeable, meaning small volumes can trigger outsized moves. The stock has now lost more than a third of its value from that May high, highlighting the fragility of a market where liquidity is virtually absent.

Should investors sell immediately? Or is it worth buying OHB SE?

Operationally, however, the first quarter of 2026 told a different story. Total output rose 15% to €279 million (€279.3 million in the more precise secondary figure), adjusted EBITDA climbed 37% to €27.3 million, and net profit surged to €9.9 million from €3.7 million a year earlier. The order backlog swelled 45% to €3.354 billion, with the Space Systems segment accounting for €2.683 billion. Management’s full-year guidance calls for total output of €1.4 billion in 2026, stepping up to €2 billion by 2028 at an EBITDA margin above 12%.

Shareholders will have a chance to weigh in on capital structure changes at the annual general meeting on June 8. The meeting will be held virtually; registrations must be submitted by June 1, and countermotions by June 2. The board proposes a dividend of €0.60 per share, implying a total payout of roughly €11.5 million.

More consequential is agenda item 9, which asks for authorization to issue convertible or warrant bonds, profit participation rights, or a combination, with an aggregate nominal amount of up to €1.2 billion through 2031. To back this, a conditional capital increase equivalent to 20% of the current share capital is proposed. A separate conditional capital increase, earmarked for a stock option program, would permit the issuance of up to 576,447 new shares, capped at 3.0% of share capital. The AGM will also vote on fine-tuning the existing authorized capital from 2025 regarding preemptive rights.

OHB SE at a turning point? This analysis reveals what investors need to know now.

With a record backlog and ambitious growth targets, OHB clearly needs financing flexibility for satellite and constellation projects. But until the free float expands, every piece of corporate news — whether a Ramses contract or a delayed placement — will hit the stock with disproportionate force. The next earnings update is due on August 6.

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