Czech ammunition maker CSG rejects short seller's claims, affirms production target (updated)

CSG NV

05/05/2026 16:49

Adds detail of production numbers in bullet point 1, adds CSG rebutting refurbishing claims para 2

May 5 (Reuters) - Czech ammunition producer CSG CSG.AS issued a detailed rebuttal to a report by short-seller Hunterbrook Media on Tuesday, defending its production capacity, IPO disclosures and governance, as its shares continued to hover near all-time lows.

CSG, whose shares fell 13% on Monday after the short-seller report, rejected Hunterbrook's characterisation of its business as a "munitions trading house" and said the report contained inaccuracies and quoted third-party sources selectively. It also urged investors to rely on its annual report and the IPO prospectus published ahead of its January listing.

Hunterbrook's affiliated hedge fund holds a disclosed short position in the CSG stock, which was trading marginally higher on Tuesday morning.

CSG said its own production capacity totalled around 630,000 rounds in 2025, of which 80% relates to 155mm NATO-standard ammunition, and guided for a roughly 20% increase in output in 2026

The arms maker stated on X this figure does not include any recommissioning of older ammunition acquired from third parties, a central claim of the Hunterbrook report

The report further said that only one of CSG's facilities was capable of final 155mm assembly

The company denied an allegation that long-standing minority shareholder Petr Kratochvíl had not effectively exercised a put option over his CSG Land Systems stake before the IPO

A 275-million-euro ($321 million) related-party receivable questioned by Hunterbrook was fully disclosed in the IPO prospectus and settled in cash in the first quarter of this year, CSG said

CSG also clarified its 58-billion-euro Slovak ammunition framework represented the potential value of a seven-year deal, not a committed order book

It will provide a further update with its Q1 report, scheduled for May 20

($1 = 0.8555 euros)

 (Reporting by Hugo Lhomedet, Michael Kahn and Jakob Van Calster; Editing by Milla Nissi-Prussak and Matt Scuffham)

 ((hugo.lhomedet@thomsonreuters.com))