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- DroneShield (DRO) released its third quarterly report for 2020 today, detailing an exponentially larger cash burn and strengthened cash reserves
- Over the September quarter, the drone tech specialist burnt through nearly $2 million — up substantially on the June quarter’s $51,616 cashflow negative result
- Specifically, the heightened cash burn was triggered by softer customer receipts — down to just $190,000 compared to $900,000 tabled in the June quarter
- However, DroneShield argues some key customer receipts only hit its account in October, meaning they weren’t included in September’s report
- If that’s the case, the company’s December periodical should see it record substantial receipts, making the September quarter’s deepened cash burn an outlier
- In other news, the company launched into October with over $17 million to its name — a figure buffered by the company’s largest capital raise to date
- Following today’s report, Dronshield shares tacked on 2.94 per cent, trading for 17.5 cents in early afternoon
DroneShield (DRO) released its third quarterly report for 2020 today, detailing an exponentially larger cash burn and strengthened cash reserves.
The industrial stock, which produces drone detection, tracking and countermeasure technology, outlined its financial performance and recapped the quarter’s highlights in today’s announcement.
Negative cashflow spikes
Over the September quarter, DroneShield burnt through nearly $2 million — up substantially on the June quarter’s $51,616 cashflow negative result.
With staff costs — the company’s highest operating expense — staying around the same as last quarter’s outflows, it looks like the heightened cash burn was triggered by softer customer receipts tabled between June and September.
In that space of time, DroneShield recorded almost $190,000 in receipts — down significantly from over $900,000 reported at the end of June.
Speaking to the result, DroneShield reassured stakeholders that some contracts — slated for payout in the September quarter — hit the company’s bank balance in October, just missing the quarter’s cutoff date.
More broadly, DroneShield’s order book now stands a historical $5.2 million — and the company expects the majority to be paid out in the current quarter. DRO also reports it has brought in over $800,000 in operational cash inflows over October alone.
If that’s the case, the drone tech specialist’s December periodical should see it record substantial cash receipts, making the September quarter’s deepened cash burn an outlier.
Cash reserves boom
DroneShield launched into the December quarter with over $17 million to its name — a figure buffered by the company’s largest capital raise to date.
In early August, DroneShield set out to raise $7.5 million in a placement and $1.5 million in a share purchase plan (SPP).
But it seems investors were even more eager to buy into the DroneShield story: the company’s SPP attracted $15.3 million in subscriptions.
While Dronshield couldn’t accommodate all contributions, it did accept around $9.5 million in subscriptions, leading the company to nab roughly $17 million to support sales and marketing in growing overseas markets.
By quarter’s end, the company had over $17.3 million in the bank — positioning it to grow in the coming months.
Following today’s report, Dronshield shares tacked on 2.94 per cent. Company stock is trading for 17.5 cents at 2:00 pm AEDT.
