As OHB SE marks a quarter-century since its initial public offering, the Bremen-based aerospace group approaches a week of significant financial scrutiny. All eyes are on March 19, when the company will release its audited annual results for 2025. Investors are keenly awaiting confirmation that profitability has kept pace with the firm’s explosive order growth.
Operational Milestones and Strategic Contracts
Beyond the financial figures, several key operational developments are converging. In February, OHB secured an ESA contract valued at €81.2 million for the RAMSES space probe. Including preparatory work, the total project volume reaches approximately €150 million. This mission involves studying the asteroid Apophis during its close approach to Earth in 2029, with an exceptionally tight development timeline of just 3.5 years.
Concurrently, the Ariane 6 program is gaining momentum. The launch vehicle successfully completed its first commercial mission on February 12, deploying 32 satellites for Amazon’s broadband constellation into orbit. This provides long-term planning security for OHB’s subsidiary, MT Aerospace, which manufactures tanks and structural components for Ariane 6, holding a 10% workshare in the program. Amazon has firmly booked 18 launches—the largest commercial contract in the history of Arianespace. Since October 2025, MT Aerospace has been a fully consolidated subsidiary, meaning its earnings now flow entirely into the group’s accounts.
A Transformation from Startup to European Leader
The company’s journey began in 2001 as “OHB Teledata AG,” reporting total output of €15 million with 125 employees. Today, it stands as a corporation with a market capitalization of roughly €4.77 billion. Since its IPO, the share price has surged by more than 2,150 percent. The founding Fuchs family retains firm control with a 65.4 percent stake, while KKR holds 28.6 percent. Free float remains limited at just 5.7 percent.
Recent growth metrics underscore this transformation. In 2025, order intake increased by 24 percent to around €2.1 billion, while the firm order backlog expanded by an even more substantial 47 percent to over €3.1 billion. For the first nine months of 2025, total output climbed 21 percent to €863.5 million, and EBITDA improved from €62.4 million to €75.5 million.
Looking ahead, OHB is targeting total output of €1.4 billion for 2026 with an EBITDA margin of 11 percent. The company aims to surpass the €2 billion mark from 2028 onward.
The Balance Sheet Conference: A Litmus Test for Sustainability
The central question for the March 19 presentation is whether the company’s operational strength is sufficient to shoulder the substantial upfront investments required for its planned satellite serial production without straining liquidity. While the record order backlog is impressive, the critical issue is the extent to which it has already translated into robust cash flows.
Furthermore, the path to a final contract award in the SATCOMBw program remains open amid growing European competition and is expected to take several more months. The upcoming balance sheet press conference will provide the first concrete answers regarding the true solidity of the foundation supporting this aggressive growth trajectory.
