DroneShield Limited (ASX:DRO), a company that provides Artificial Intelligence based platforms for protection against advanced threats such as drones and autonomous systems, has announced that 9,224,361 performance options have vested. This vesting is due to the company achieving $200 million in cash receipts within a rolling 12-month period, a milestone applicable to these options. The options were initially granted to incentivise employees when the company’s sales figures were significantly lower than current levels.
The vested options are held by employees, including the CEO, who holds 709,361 of the total vested options. The company has confirmed that no non-executive directors hold any of the vested options. Shareholder approval for the CEO’s options was obtained at the Annual General Meeting held on 28 May 2025. The remaining options were granted in February 2025 under the Incentive Option Plan, which was approved by shareholders at the Annual General Meeting on 19 April 2023.
DroneShield’s auditor, HLB Mann Judd, has verified the achievement of the cash receipts performance hurdle for the period spanning from 2 April 2025 to 13 January 2026. The company also noted that 995,000 previously issued performance options remain unvested, all of which were granted when the company’s sales were significantly lower.
Assuming all 9,224,361 performance options are exercised, the company’s capital structure will include 923,142,028 fully paid ordinary shares, 269,000 exercise price options and 6,998,167 performance options, resulting in 930,409,195 fully diluted shares on issue. The share option non-cash expense for the year ended 2025 totals $23.5 million. The audited results are due in February 2026, as part of the 2025 Annual Report.
