Welcome to the nine-month 2024 results of OHB. I hope you have been able to download our documents. This is a call where we are all in different locations. You see, Markus is in Munich, and Kurt and Marcel are in Bremen; and I'm in the Berlin office. I would like to walk you quickly through the slides, and then we have time for a quick Q&A.
Let me just start quickly here. Well. So, just to start with the overview of the group, actually, the only thing that has changed in the last couple of months is that our OHB Digital Solutions company has been renamed OHB Austria. Other than that, everything is in the same shape: our three business segments Space Systems, Aerospace, and Digital.
The strategy, OHB 2025: Shaping the Future, is the old strategy that has been created in 2019, and then it has been updated in 2021. It's our long-term strategy. Obviously, just being six weeks away from 2025, we will at our Capital Market Day in January, we'll update that and rework this. I guess it's a good reference to see that over the last five, six years, we have been pretty consistent and are on a good way to, let's say, shape our future and achieve our goals. I don't want to spend that much time on this.
An update on the voluntary public takeover offer by KKR. The investment has been completed. Last outstanding regulatory approval from Belgium was granted in August. You see the share as it is now. We have EUR 19.2 million shares, EUR 12.55 million, yeah, with my family, 65.4%. Now 28.6%, EUR 5.5 million shares are owned by KKR through their Orchid Lux HoldCo. Another EUR 1.09 million shares, 5.7%, are free float. And 62,000 shares, roughly 0.3%, are treasury stock that is owned by OHB SE.
The closing was in September, so it was in the third quarter. I guess the information is very well known, so I don't want to walk through this, but just as an update on this, this is now the cap table. A few highlights from the segments. I start with the Space S ystems division. We have won a contract for Harmony satellites, about EUR 280 million for an Earth observation satellite. That's Earth Explorer 10, so-called Earth Explorer 10 mission. It's a radar mission. That's fitting us very well.
Yeah, so we are having a payload. You see the image here, a payload that is also with phased array. That's a technology that, of course, is very much in use, and we're very happy also to be in charge of this overall system.
There will be two satellites manufactured over the years. Second mission that was signed recently was the Ramses Space Safety Mission. That is a contract of EUR 60 million, and OHB Italy is the prime contractor. It's not a follow-up to Hera, but it's a similar mission based on technologies that have been developed for Hera. And yeah, it is now the first phase is working, and we are expecting to get funding commitments at the Ministerial Conference next year. We had a couple of successful launches in the last months. There was on 16 August 2024 the Arctic Weather Satellite launched.
That's a prototype for the so-called EPS- Sterna constellation or EUMETSAT. It's based on our Swedish InnoSat platform. It's a small satellite. In September, on 18 September 2024, we had another launch of two Galileo satellites. There will now be six more satellites from the third batch that are still on ground that will be launched in 2025 and 2026.
On 7 October 2024, the Hera spacecraft was launched so far a big success. In just four years, we designed and built the Hera spacecraft that is now on its way to the Didymos asteroid. It's a joint mission, the DART mission with our American partners from NASA, that had already launched the DART mission two years ago.
So all these launches have been carried out with different Falcon 9s from the United States, and they have all been successful. In our aerospace segment, Ariane 6 launch was actually, in terms of calendar, it was in the third quarter because it was on 9 July 2024, the first launch of Ariane 6, but we already talked about it. It has been well published already over the summer.
So now obviously Ariane 6 is in a different phase, and we're very happy to see that now the exploitation of Ariane 6 is moving forward. On our Rocket Factory Augsburg participation, there was an unsuccessful first stage test in August. So that was quite, let's say, quite significant fire. The first stage was lost, a total loss of that first stage.
Many of you have probably seen the footage because there was more or less by accident or just randomly a camera team there from BBC that filmed everything. But since then, since August and last three months, we have obviously restarted. More than a hundred improvements of the design of the first stage have been identified and agreed to be implemented.
Testing has restarted again. We are in Sweden testing new engines, but we will have a postponement of the first launch of RFA to next year. On our digital segment, things go quite well. It is more when we have been more focusing on expanding, which OHB Teledata has now signed an agreement with an Austrian company.
So I guess our success in the rail business that we have so far in Germany mainly is now on the way to also be distributed in other countries and other markets. Order backlog in the last couple of months was developing well. We had a low point of EUR 1.749 billion at the beginning of 2023, and now we are back to EUR 2.1 billion. Markus is ready to answer questions about the order intake, because that has been quite significant over the last three months.
Just summarizing the numbers that we have reported, I hope you had a chance to look at it. Order backlog is up, as I said. Revenues are slightly down. EBITDA is at EUR 62.3 million. Adjusted EBITDA, which is the number we are focusing on, is up to EUR 72.5 million.
You see then, compared to last year, the other numbers are slightly below in terms of earnings per share and the net profits after minority. Slight increase in headcount, which is now up to 3,456 people as of 30 September 2024. This again is the comparison over the last five years, the nine-month result. Total revenue is slightly below the record we had in 2023, but higher than in the years 2021 and 2022. The same is true for profitability.
Actually, the profitability, the adjusted EBITDA is a record high in 2024 after nine months. You see it here with the 72.5. But Kurt is here to answer more questions on numbers. This is the order intake, summarized and compared to last year.
At this time of the year, after three quarters, last year we had EUR 920 million order intake, and this year we have 1.479, so roughly EUR 1.5 billion. It says EUR 1.479 million, that's EUR 1,479 million. So, it's EUR 1.5 billion, roughly EUR 1.5 billion. So, Book-to-bill more than one, that's good. There's more to come. The year 2024 so far is a good year in terms of order intake, and that has been anticipated. This is according to plan, but I guess we're on a good trajectory here.
We look at our financial calendar just to conclude the few slides before we go into the Q&A session. The next thing we have coming up is our Capital Market Day in January, on 23 January 2024. And then, we'll report our annual report for 20 March 2024 .
And so on, you see here the typical dates we have. Annual meeting is planned to be on in late May. Good. So that was a bit quick. Maybe if I look at the to the clock, it's just 9:12 A.M. But anyway, I'll open the floor for questions. Marcel, do you have any questions already?
Yes. Please just raise your hand if you have any questions, like Alexander Halmstein already did. I will add you as a panelist real quick. So Mr. Halmstein, can you hear us?
Yes. Hello. I can hear you. Can you hear me as well?
Yes.
Yes. Good morning.
Good morning.
Perfect. Hello. Good morning to everyone. I have three questions actually. First, can you give us an update about the benefits and mid-term, long-term value KKR can contribute to OHB, or differently, how is the cooperation unfolding its fruits so far? So maybe some words on that, maybe on a, let's say, mid-term view, but also what you, what you discussed already, what you see already in terms of, yeah, your, your new partners.
Second question, can you give us an update please about the delisting process, with regard to timeline, milestones, et cetera, everything we need to know and beyond what you have published maybe. And last question, I'm curious to hear about your new military contracts. And if you can, it would be interesting to hear some comments. What is, what is in the pipeline here going forward and for whom? Thank you.
Yes. Maybe I start and Kurt and Markus can add to that. Yet now, obviously after the closing, with KKR and them having 28.6% of the shares, we are now implementing our improvement program, which is called Up2 Champ internally. So, we have a long list of activities where we are improving from efficiency, IT, yeah, all kinds of organizational things we look at. So, this is now going full steam. We see first results. Kurt can a little bit better go into details on that, but I guess this process is keeping everybody busy at OHB. So, I don't know, Kurt and Markus, you want to add to this first question?
At the end of the day, what we are doing, it's a permanent work with KKR in kind of working groups, let's say, in transformation in order to force the transformation process we have here. It's focused on operational expenditure.
It's focused on indirect, staff cost. It's focused on project profitability. These are the main areas we have permanent discussions with KKR in order to improve the company, improve the overall situation. I think at the end of the day, it's a good transformation process we have actually, and this will, at the end of the day, bring us to more profitability and to more, more success in several areas, especially in terms of project profitability.
We are really hard working in each area and technical disciplines and in all disciplines in order to get better, to save money, and to achieve better profitability in projects. And we are doing this permanently with K together with KKR.
Yeah. And m aybe to add to this, it also helps us to, I would say, identify resources and free them up for the delivery of the contracts that are now coming in, given that we have growth in the company and we have to engage new production lines. The optimization that we're having in the transformation program helps us also to then build up the production lines required to deliver the new contracts. It's maybe a third aspect to it.
Okay. Thank you. Maybe strategically, any view on that?
Well, obviously, I think, helps us strategically to also look to the US I mean, obviously, it's an international partner. We are comparing ourselves with best-of-class examples in North America. Obviously, at 28.6%, it's a strategic investment, but it's not a controlling share. It's a minority share.
But we are discussing our strategies. And I think at this point in time, it's clear that our strategy is around focusing on becoming a space champion, focusing on becoming the European space company from building satellites, launching satellites, operating satellites, having ground infrastructure, having downstream value from space. So that has been a little bit more focused than over the process than on that slide that I showed earlier, which is the strategy slide we did before, in 2019.
So we're a bit more focused on the space activities. Maybe if I give you a quick update on the process where we stand, the second question, Mr. Halmstein, we have closed this transaction, as I showed in September. So that's not that long ago.
You saw also my slide of the upcoming calendar, and you see that we are planning to be a listed company actually for 2025 because the message is that shows that it's unclear exactly how we go about in terms of timing. We're not in a hurry. We plan to be listed as we are. So what if you look at it jointly combined, my family and KKR had about 94% of the shares. So not that far away from the 95%, that procedural wise has a meaning.
But long story short, we have not clearly decided how the next steps will look like and when they will be taken. We feel quite comfortable in this position as it is now. So KKR is on board. We're doing all these improvements that also Kurt and Markus were talking about.
Since we are doing our listing rather in a streamlined way, it's not about massive, let's say, cost savings or anything if it changes. If you look at the stock, it's pretty much always at the level where the takeover price was. Long story short, we are not in an urgency to take the next steps in the going private, but it remains our goal. Of course, we want to be a private company because we believe this is helping us to strengthen the company and to grow.
The last question on military projects, actually new military projects in space have not materialized, if I think right. I'm looking to the screen to Markus. Maybe you know what has happened, but no major come to my mind. Markus, you know much better.
Yeah. Quick overview. We booked today EUR 1.2 billion in order intake, so 1.2, and one-third of this is with military customers. We've seen specifically with a large order in July an increased activity with the military. We have three types of customers. You know, one is direct military customers like MODs, intelligence services.
We have also the European Union with the European Defence Fund in which we have taken multiple projects, specifically ODIN's EYE, which is the early warning system for Europe that we lead. We also have engaged in a transformation program together with our unit, MT Aerospace, as the large military platform companies, you know, that build a hardware need a strategic partner actually to deliver what they have signed.
So, we've done a little over EUR 100 million order intake in that field together with MT this year, which is really the strategy is paying off that we devised last year to diversify MT. The direct MODs I talked about, and then we will see specifically in 2026 as planning goes. We think three large projects of continued investment of the military in space technology. Maybe one interesting point, we looked at some of the German budget and how it compares to the United States in terms of space, given some of the investments that have been made and the long-term plan.
It's actually very comparable to what the DOD in the United States in percent spends on space. So, that gives us also a confidence, you know, in projects beyond 2026 that there will be continued investments, actually an encouraging sign.
Okay. Thank you. And c an you clarify this 1.2? I'm not sure if it was billion, which you spoke about, with military, having one third of it being military.
Yeah. So, we separately... [Inaudible] EUR 400 million in military to date, you know, in 2024 as terms of order intake.
Sorry. EUR 200 million you said.
[Inaudible] We book... So, we gave a commitment of EUR 1.479 billion. I think we will be beyond that. Yeah. Given the current commercial activity, we see, I think in higher order intake, it depends on how fast one of our institutional customers, you know, can process the papers. You know, we booked today EUR 1.2 billion, out of the EUR 1.479 billion that you've seen, and one third of that has been with customers from the military.
Okay. Thank you. Okay.
I was misunderstanding your question, Mr. Halmstein, about this quarter, but this is the annual number that. Yeah. That's up to date.
Yeah. Yeah. Sure. Sure.
The whole year. So it was also the geo satellites and so on, geo satellite that. So that's the sum of the year. Yes. So in that respect, it is a significant part.
Okay. Great. Thanks. All the best.
Thank you.
Thank you. [Inaudible]
And next up is Henry Wendisch from NuWays. Just one second. And we should be able to talk.
Hi everybody. I hope you can hear me.
Yes. Good morning.
Hi. Good morning.
Good morning.
Good morning. Just one quick question regarding the European space competitive environment. I've read some news flow that Thales and Airbus are considering a tie-up or a merger in that sense. Do you care to comment on that, given that it's probably your two biggest competitors, but also your two biggest partners in certain projects, forming a legal entity? How do you see this going forward, and also with respect to your competitive standing in the field?
Yes. Thank you. Yes. We have also seen that news flow, but I must say that this has been rumored over the years, actually over the decades, quite a few times. So I have not seen any firm news or any announcements, but I guess there are discussions about restructuring probably going on. This is probably pretty certain. What it means for OHB, of course, as you said, we are closely working with both companies, with Thales Alenia, but also with Airbus Defense and Space.
So for us, this is an impact and potentially also a risk on our supply chain. We are teaming, using especially Thales's work shares on a number of our own ESA contracts and European contracts. So there's concern on our side with regard to that, such a combination or such a potential merger would have a negative impact on our supply chain. That's clearly one thing to look at. On the other hand, you always have an industry's changes. So, this is going on everywhere. So, we're not surprised about it.
I mean, you have seen in the space industry in the last years new companies, a new wave of new space companies. So of course, then that triggers consolidation. I don't know, Markus, you wanna add to that what your feeling is, but I guess the first point is that we have to safeguard our supply chain and our teaming capabilities and... [Inaudible].
Yeah. I mean, first of all, we haven't seen any change from both partners towards us when it comes to cooperation. And there are many, so there's still an open dialogue and they operate as if, you know, that there is no project to merge. I think that's just important to notice.
On the other hand, what we have done though is we've done a pretty in-depth analysis since March to see what could be a potential impact on us and what it means for the supply chain. At this point in time, we believe it's manageable, as we have a diverse supply chain in the company. So also, me being new on board, looking at the numbers, it's less than I expected, which is good news.
On the other hand, of course, we have to, you know, monitor it. As always, when you concentrate the offer, it's most likely that the customer, you know, will suffer. So, that's something to watch. And for us, it's also an opportunity to be one of the alternatives to whatever that merge will be, with the capabilities that we have. So, we also see an opportunity in that merge if it comes. It's been in the industry ever since I entered the industry.
Okay. So not really that new, but always a thing in the background. [Inaudble] Thank you very much.
I can't see any further raised hands. So, no questions for now.
And maybe from my side now it's about a half an hour into the call. Obviously, we are always available to discuss. Marcel is reachable, but also could Markus and myself, and certainly at our upcoming Capital Market Day in January, there's an opportunity to exchange what OHB is doing.
We believe that 2025 will be a good year for the space industry. We clearly obviously now work for the upcoming ministerial conference of the European Space Agency, ESA Ministerial conference that is upcoming in November, actually in Bremen, so it has been decided by the Germany and ESA that this will be an event taking place in Bremen. So that would be, of course exciting to see if new programs are starting there.
But in the short future, next week there will be the Space Tech Expo also in Bremen. That's the big space fair. So, if any of you is there, of course get in touch with us. We are at the fair there and we have a chance to exchange t hen. Good. So, this was a little bridge for further questions. I'm looking to Marcel again. Do we have any further questions in this last moments?
No, no further questions.
If that's not the case, then I'll just say thank you to all of you and let's stay in touch. And should we not be in touch again in this year, I wish you a good holiday season coming up in a couple of weeks. Everybody's still so busy that nobody really already thinks about that, but five weeks, they go quicker than, than we all think. And again, then coming back in January and hopefully we'll meet up again at OHB's Capital Market Day. So thank you very much and, closing the call. Bye-bye.