Česká Zbrojovka Group Sees Profit, Revenue Jump In First Half

Česká zbrojovka Group SE (CZG) reported revenues of 4.7 billion crowns in the first half of this year. This is a year-on-year increase of 40.6 percent. From January to June, the company’s net profit amounted to 587.9 million crowns, which represents an increase of 54 percent compared to the same period in 2020. Representatives of the holding told ČTK today in a press release.

The published consolidated unaudited financial results of the holding show that its operations were positively affected mainly by higher arms sales in the USA, Africa and Asia. They were also affected by the acquisition of Colt and the consolidation of its revenues into CZG’s overall operations from 21 May this year.

According to the President and Chairman of the Board of Directors, Jan Drahota, the CZG Group has another record half-year behind it. “Demand for our products remains high and exceeds our current production capacity. We are in a strong position to create long-term sustainable value for employees, customers, business partners, shareholders and the company as a whole,” said Drahota.

The number of weapons sold by CZG in the first six months of 2021 increased by 33.3 percent compared to the first half of last year. The group sold 304,322 weapons. From January to the end of June, US revenues accounted for 62.5 percent of the holding’s total revenues. Another 10.7 percent was revenue in Europe, with the exception of the Czech Republic, directly in the Czech Republic, the share of total revenue was 2.9 percent. Revenue in Africa was 10.5 percent, Asia was 6.1 percent, Canada was 3.3 percent and the rest of the world was four percent.

The company’s EBITDA indicator increased by 12.5 percent to 984.1 million crowns in the first half of the year compared to the same period in 2020, mainly due to significant growth in global sales, especially on continents outside Europe. EBITDA is the economic result before interest, taxes and depreciation.

Due to the favorable development of CZG’s management, the management expects that the group’s total revenues this year should be in the range of 10.34 to 10.64 billion crowns. According to the holding’s management, the expected amount of the EBITDA indicator could reach 1.99 to 2.19 billion crowns this year.

For the whole of last year, the CZG holding reported revenues of 6.8 billion crowns, the operating profit exceeded 1.056 billion crowns. The group manufactures small arms for the armed forces, personal defense, hunting, sport shooting and other civilian uses. It sells them under the CZ (Česká zbrojovka) brand, which has a history of more than eighty years, as well as under the CZ-USA, Colt, Colt Canada, Dan Wesson, Brno Rifles and 4M Systems brands.

In addition to Česká zbrojovka, the group includes Colt Manufacturing Company, Colt Canada Corporation, CZ-USA, Brno Rifles, 4M Systems and CZ Export Praha. The holding also holds a minority stake in Spuhr i Dalby, a Swedish manufacturer of optical mounting solutions for weapons. The group employs approximately 2,000 people in the Czech Republic, the USA, Canada and Germany. The CZG Group is 81.2 percent owned by the Česká zbrojovka Partners SE holding company, the remaining 18.8 percent are publicly traded shares.