Really not sure what to make of this?

@PinchOfSalt i hope you got in a few months ago. Tidy little 100% profit.

For the long term holders who got in at much higher prices this might be bitter sweet.

ANNOUNCEMENT:

Melbourne-headquartered cybersecurity firm Tesserent was up 145 per cent at lunch after announcing it would be taken over by French multinational Thales for an equity value of $176 million.

Tesserent and French multinational Thales have entered a binding scheme implementation deed (SID) at 13 cents/share, a per cent premium to the closing price on Friday.

Excellent 4C report from TNT.

Turnover +50% and EBITDA +88%

Full details:

https://investors.tesserent.com/site/PDF/f1cf154f-9eb3-46d8-9ef6-43d61753a899/QuarterlyActivitiesAppendix4CCashFlowReport

Tesserent are the largest ASX listed cyber security company targeting the AUS & NZ market. They are a full service cyber security & secure cloud service provider assisting companies from the "Boardroom to Basement".

They offer a number of solutions including: Cyber strategy & consulting, Security advisory, Technical assurance & testing, Identity access management, Managed services & monitoring, Network & cloud security, Digital forensic & incident response, Cyber education, Physical/converged security.

Management Team

In the recent market update from TNT they outlined that Co CEO Julliun Challingsworth will be stepping down as Co CEO and will be taking a position as chairman. I don't mind this as Julian seemed to be less experienced in the IT field compared to Kurt Hansen who will now be the sole CEO.

Jullian Challingsworth - 3 years & 4 months @ TNT as CEO now moving to chairman. Previously was a partner at Litmus Group (Management & Consulting)

Kurt Hansen - 2 years @ TNT as Co CEO now sole CEO. 30+ years experience working in IT industry. Previously a CEO at Pure Security who integrated 4 acquisitions whilst listed on the ASX prior to TNT takeover 2 years ago.

Although Kurt and Jullian only own about 2% of the company the board has a total of 15% interest in TNT. Enough to tick the box for me.

Looking through their glass door reviews they have a pretty average 2.1/5 star rating. 90% of the complaints are that the management are scattered/unclear on the direction, one comment was even made about terrible integration of businesses. There are only 6 reviews here and personally I only write a review when I have something bad to say so I haven't given this too much weighting but its certainly something to keep an eye on if their results start to falter.

Market Update (19th Nov 2021)

Turnover growth of 67%, EBITDA Growth of 150%, Organic Growth >40%, ARR 42%, Overall growth 150%, $19.8m Cash on hand vs $15.2m net debt.

Currently working with over 790 active customers 43 of which are in the ASX 100.

Their September quarter was weaker than Q4 FY21 but they had outlined this in the FY21 report due to the seasonality in receipts from customers. Companies love to spend their budgets come EOFY.

TNT have given the below short term targets (I couldn't find reference to what "short term" meant so unsure if this is FY22 or they've just plucked these numbers out a hat)

Turnover of $200m, EBITDA margin of 15%, ARR 50%

To compare to FY 21: Turnover $96.7m, 8% EBITDA margin, ARR 42%

TNT are still actively looking to acquire new bolt on's which improve EBITDA margins & align with the company's future goals.

A few yellow flags to keep an eye on but given the companies execution thus far and continued organic growth I'm happy to continue holding.

Tesserent (TNT) announced today that they would be entering a trading halt "concerning a capital raising to support pending acquisitions." 

TNT has made 7 acquisitions since March 2020, yes seven, so one has to question the company’s internal focus. Organic Growth is difficult to ascertain for TNT as they continue to seek M&A opportunities. I realise and recognise current market conditions being more favourable to acquisitions however I'm beginning to wonder when management will focus on their organic growth, and core offerings. 

Disc. Small position held.

Today Tesserent went up nearly 14% on rumors that Shaw and Partners have released a report (for subscribers only) giving Tesserent a Buy rating and a target price of $0.31c (40% higher than current price).

TNT seems to be undervalued compared to their peers.

DISC: I hold.

26-Feb-2021 (after market close):  Half Year Report - commentary   plus   Half Year Report and Accounts - not audit reviewed   and   ASIC extension to lodge Half Year Report

• Turnover increases YoY by 500% to $36.5M
• Operational EBITDA increases by $4.6M to $2.9M
• Net assets increase from $16.5M to $65M
• Cash at bank increases from $4M to $8M

Tesserent Limited (ASX:TNT) is pleased to provide the Company’s Half Yearly Report (Appendix 4D) for the half-year ended 31 December 2020. The Board notes the following points regarding the progress of the Company’s strategy and performance during and after the reporting period.

Key Highlights for H1 FY21

• Financial achievements:
  • $36.5M Turnover* achieved (in excess of 500% growth on same period last FY)
  • $2.9M Operational EBITDA** achieved against a prior period loss of $1.7M
• Acquisitions:
  • Seer Security (completed August 2020)
  • Airloom (completed September 2020)
  • Ludus Cybersecurity (completed September 2020)
  • iQ3 (completed November 2020)
  • Lateral Security NZ (completed February 2021)
• Joint Ventures:
  • Optic TNT Security Pty. Ltd. JV with NZ-based Secure Optic (announced November 2020)
• Listed on ASX All Tech Index (S&P/ASX All Technology Index)
• Entered NZ market with acquisition of Lateral Security

Notes:

1. (*) Turnover includes gross income on certain third-party software licence sales - treated on a net basis for statutory reporting
2. (**) Before One-off acquisition costs and Share option expense

The H2 FY21 Results will benefit from:

• The inclusion of 5 months results from Lateral Security which completed in February 21
• The inclusion of the full 6 months revenue and earnings for the following acquisitions :
  • Seer Security (5 months in H1 results)
  • Airloom (4 months in H1 results)
  • Ludus Cybersecurity (4 months in H1 results)
  • iQ3 (2 months in H1 results)
• Strong organic growth with significant uplift across our Government projects.

--- for the remainder of this announcement, and the other two announcements released by TNT after market close on Friday, click on the links at the top ---

DEC QTR 2020 - APPENDIX 4C QUARTERLY ACTIVITIES REPORT AND OPERATIONAL UPDATE

The Company is also pleased to announce that it continues to build its quarter on quarter operating profitability, increasing operational EBITDA to $1.41M for the quarter, up 248% from the previous quarter’s $405K. The Company expects to continue this growth trend for the foreseeable future.

DISC:I hold

MEGAN HAAS, CYBER, RISK AND GOVERNANCE EXPERT JOINS THE TESSERENT BOARD BRINGING 30+ YEARS OF GLOBAL CYBER EXPEREINCE...PATRICK FLANNIGAN STEPS DOWN FROM TNT BOARD FOLLOWING REMARKABLE GROWTH PERIOD

Her current board appointments include:

RMIT University ~Council member, Chair-Audit & Risk Management Committee

Development Victoria ~ Director, Audit & Risk Committee Member

Note Printing Australia ~ Audit Committee

Member University of Melbourne Academic Centre of Cyber Excellence Advisory Board Member

Handdii ~ Director

Suburban Rail Loop ~ Advisory Board Member, Chair Audit & Risk Committee (under formation)

Disc: I hold

17-Dec-2020:  Tesserent acquires NZ based Lateral Security

TESSERENT ENTERS NEW ZEALAND MARKET WITH FIRST STRATEGIC ACQUISITION OF LOCAL CYBERSECURITY FIRM

• Acquires strategic NZ-based cybersecurity firm, Lateral Security
• Delivering NZ$4.2M turnover and NZ$850K of sustainable EBITDA
• Strong brand and reputation in the New Zealand Central Government
• Acquisition is immediately earnings, cash flow and EPS accretive
• Provides a steppingstone for existing Tesserent businesses to enter the NZ market
• Significant synergy benefits and cross-sell opportunities with existing TNT Optic Security

--- click on the link above for the full announcement ---

14-Dec-2020:  Update/Tesserent listed on ASX All Tech Index

TESSERENT LISTED ON ALL TECH INDEX AS STRONG, ORGANIC GROWTH CONTINUES

• TNT added to S&P/ASX All Technology Index
• Recognised as one of Australia’s fastest-growing technology firms
• Tesserent continues to experience strong organic growth from group cross-sales

Tesserent Limited (ASX:TNT) is pleased to announce its listing on the S&P/ASX All Technology Index (All Tech Index) as announced on 11 December 2020. This comes as a result of our strong overall market performance during 2020, with continued significant organic growth across existing Group companies.

Tesserent listed on the All Tech Index

The All Tech Index represents the ASX’s fastest-growing sector, shining the spotlight on Australia’s leading technology companies. With TNT’s addition to the All Tech Index, the Company joins firms including Afterpay (ASX:APT), REA Group (ASX:REA) and Xero (ASX:XRO).

This achievement is a significant milestone for Tesserent and validates the Company’s growth strategy, highlighting the sustained, exponential growth TNT has realised in the past 12 months.

Julian Challingsworth, TNT’s Co-CEO, commented; “We’re delighted with the ongoing recognition of Tesserent’s continued growth. Being added to the All Tech Index is a real acknowledgement of the success of our growth strategy and opens TNT up to new investors and funds that follow and invest in indices”.

Synergies & Growth Update

In addition to the 135% YoY EBITDA growth in our Federal Government division as announced on 9 December 2020, the Company is also pleased to report continued strong organic cross-sell growth across its entire group of companies.

Major wins so far this quarter include 12 services agreements across Federal, State and Local Governments, as well as Financial Services Groups and Property Developers.

Kurt Hansen, TNT’s Co-CEO, commented; “We’re delighted with the continuing collaboration and significant cross-sell opportunities that are being realised within the group. We’ve already seen significant success, and expect this trend to continue into 2021 as we expand locally and abroad”.

The Company looks forward to keeping the market updated on the progress of our growth strategy, together with our next full quarterly report at the conclusion of Q2 FY21.

--- ends ---

ABOUT TESSERENT:  Tesserent provides full service, enterprise-grade Cyber Security and networking solutions targeted at midmarket, enterprise and government customers across Australia. The Company’s Cyber 360 strategy delivers integrated solutions covering identification, protection and 24/7 monitoring against Cyber Security threats. With in excess of 220 security engineers, Tesserent has the capability to support organisations defend their digital assets against increasing risks and cyber-attacks.

Tesserent has been transformed via the acquisition of several high-quality Cyber Security businesses including Pure Security, Rivium, North Security, Seer Security, Airloom, Ludus Security and iQ3, making it Australia’s largest listed dedicated Cyber Security firm.

Learn more at www.tesserent.com.

[I no longer hold TNT, having sold out on valuation grounds to lock in substantial profits, however they are still on my Strawman.com scorecard.  If I had more more capital to invest, TNT is a company I would like to still be holding in at least one of my real life portfolios.]

09-Dec-2020:  Significant earnings growth for North earn out

TNT’S STRATEGY TO TARGET FEDERAL GOVERNMENT RESULTS IN SIGNIFICANT EARNINGS GROWTH

• Tesserent’s Federal Government division achieves significant earnings growth
• North drives 135% YoY earnings growth with $1.8M in FY20 compared to $766K in FY19
• Growth trend expected to continue into FY21

Tesserent Limited (ASX:TNT) is pleased to announce that North Security, our Federal Government team, has exceeded Company expectations, increasing earnings from $766K in FY19 to $1.8M in FY20 which represents in excess of 135% YoY growth.

The Company expects this growth trend to continue across the entire Federal Government division in FY21. This growth is being driven by a combination of increased Federal Government cybersecurity spending as announced by PM Scott Morrison on 6 August 2020 together with Tesserent’s increasingly strong reputation in the Canberra market.

Tesserent’s Co-CEO, Julian Challingsworth, commented; “We are extremely pleased to announce that our Canberra team, headed up by George Katavic, has been a significant contributor to Tesserent’s overall market performance. 2020 has seen the Company’s enterprise value and share price increase exponentially, resulting in George and his team deservedly achieving their FY20 earnout, significantly exceeding their revenue and earnings targets”.

As previously announced on 23 March 2020, Tesserent acquired North Security for $5.3M consisting of a $1.25M cash payment, 20M fully paid ordinary shares at 10c on completion, plus four deferred sixmonthly payments of $512K over a two-year period. The North Security earnout payment is 2 x the difference between FY19 and FY20 audited earnings, resulting in a $2.2M earnout figure. The earnout is to be paid one-third cash and two-thirds shares (based on a 60-day VWAP ending 30 June 2020).

Whilst this now concludes North’s earnout period, George and his team as significant shareholders remain focused on continuing to drive Tesserent’s Canberra operation and increasing shareholder value.

--- ends ---

I was a TNT shareholder, but have sold out recently on valuation grounds.  The company is still on my Strawman.com scorecard however - and showing a gain over over +350% at this point.  Just because a company looks overvalued by the market doesn't mean their share price won't just keep heading north.  So I'm not saying they are a sell here, just that I see better risk/reward scenarios/opportunities elsewhere.  For example, AVA have more than doubled from my buy price, but I see plenty of further upside with AVA as well as catalysts that can drive their SP higher, so I still hold AVA.  If I had more investable capital, I would likely still hold TNT as well.  I like the saying, "Let your winners run," although in my case I tend to lock in profits when I think they've run too hard.  If TNT had been a larger position, I would have trimmed the position instead of selling out.  That's what I've done with AVA and MAQ - and Codan (CDA) which is not even on my Strawman.com scorecard but has been one of my biggest winners over the past couple of years - I've trimmed those positions back to a desired weighting every now and then.  However I never held enough TNT to make that strategy worthwhile.  I've done it on my Strawman.com scorecard (trimmed TNT) but not in real life because my real-life position in TNT just wasn't large enough to start with - unfortunately!!  They've done VERY well!

06-Oct-2020:  Integration synergies update

TESSERENT MAKES KEY APPOINTMENTS AND DELIVERS ORGANIC GROWTH FROM ACQUISITION SYNERGIES

• New CFO appointed to help drive integration
• Head of Synergies appointed to drive cross-organisational synergy activities
• First cross-organisational sales and synergy wins
• $6M in new government contract wins across the Group in the September Quarter
• New enterprise contract wins in excess of $4M during the month of September
• 100% of existing Federal Government clients retained

Tesserent Limited (ASX:TNT), having now acquired several high-value cybersecurity businesses in recent months is pleased to update the market on a number of key appointments and its activities to accelerate organic revenue growth through cross-selling synergies and the integration of brands, people, systems and processes.

New Appointments

The Company is pleased to announce the appointment of two key executives in senior roles to help drive integration and synergies across the Group.

Peter Fearns, has been appointed as the new Group CFO (starting November 2020). Peter has extensive back-office integration experience from previous executive roles at UXC and ANZ Banking Group. During his time at UXC, Peter oversaw the integration of 35+ separate businesses under the UXC corporate umbrella and is a welcome addition to the TNT Executive Team.

In addition, the Company has also recently appointed a Head of Synergies, Nathan Knox, to ensure a coordinated approach to understanding Group capabilities and appropriate processes are in place to educate and drive cross-selling opportunities. With a background in similar roles at ASX100 Companies and Government agencies including NBN Co, Coles and Woolworths, Nathan is well suited to spearhead the Company’s synergies strategy.

Sales and Synergy Wins - Update

Processes around cross-organisational cooperation, ensuring Group collaboration on responses to RFIs and sharing panels are now in place. Processes are also now in place to ensure core offerings such as iQ3s Cloud Security and Airloom’s leading Cloud Security Architecture, as well as Pure Security’s SOC services are made available to support North Security’s Federal Government bids.

There have been a number of significant wins resulting from co-selling strategies between business units over the last quarter, underpinning the achieved target of $100m gross revenue annualised run rate. Some of the more notable Group wins include:

1. New Federal, State and Local Government contract wins across the Group in excess of $6M in the September quarter
2. The Group retained 100% of existing Federal Government clients with most contracts extended through to the end of the calendar year and beyond
3. Significant enterprise contract wins in aggregate in excess of $4M in the month of September with large Financial Services, Insurance, Advertising and Media organisations
4. Continued growth of the firm’s annual recurring revenue streams from new and existing locked-in annuity contracts now in excess of $30M per annum

Brands Strategy

The core objective of the Company’s acquisition strategy is to fill key capabilities in the firm’s Cyber 360 end-to-end cybersecurity offering. With a broad cybersecurity offering with clearly defined market segments now in place, the Company is focused on unlocking synergies to maximise organic revenue growth.

Tesserent Limited, the parent company and corporate-facing brand has two primary customer-facing go-to-market brands:

• Federal Government
  • North Security will (from 1 October 2020) absorb Seer Security (Canberra) and Ludus Cybersecurity, and will remain focused on serving the Federal Government, Law enforcement and Defence; and
• Private Enterprise and State & Local Government
  • Pure Security with the recently absorbed Rivium business and the more recently acquired;
  • Airloom business, will remain focused on supporting private enterprise and State & Local Government.

Future Cyber 360 capabilities that are required, such as iQ3's Secure Cloud Services and other potential proprietary solutions, will be strategically positioned to complement the above strategy.

Systems And Processes Integration

As previously announced, at a Group level, the Company has completed a significant milestone toward back-office integration with the financial integration of all business units onto one system, Oracle NetSuite. This single integrated financial management system now enables integration of new acquisitions onto a common core financial platform that optimises and lowers transaction processing costs across an expanding Group.

The new financial year also saw Tesserent’s original Managed Security Services Provider (MSSP) business and Rivium absorbed into the Pure Security business. The MSSP business now operates under a single Pure Security brand.

The Company looks forward to providing the market with additional information and guidance on our synergy strategy in future updates and the upcoming 4C Commentary.

ABOUT TESSERENT

Tesserent provides full service, enterprise-grade Cyber Security and networking solutions targeted at midmarket, enterprise and government customers across Australia. The Company’s Cyber 360 strategy delivers integrated solutions covering identification, protection and 24/7 monitoring against Cyber Security threats. With in excess of 220 security engineers, Tesserent has the capability to support organisations defend their digital assets against increasing risks and cyber-attacks.

Tesserent has been transformed via the acquisition of several high-quality Cyber Security businesses including Pure Security, Rivium, North Security, Seer Security, Airloom, Ludus Security and IQ3, making it Australia’s largest listed dedicated Cyber Security firm.

Learn more at: www.tesserent.com

24-Sep-2020:  TNT Acquires iQ3

TESSERENT ACQUIRES IQ3, A MAJOR PRIVATE CLOUD PROVIDER FOR SECURE DATA

• Secure Cloud Services provider with $25M turnover delivering sustainable EBITDA of $3M
• Significant synergy benefits and cross-sell opportunities
• TNT achieves $100M gross revenue annualised run rate well before December target
• Acquisition is immediately earnings, cash flow and EPS accretive

Tesserent Limited (ASX:TNT) is pleased to announce the strategic acquisition of iQ3 with the signing of a Share Purchase Agreement executed between both parties on the 23 September 2020.

This acquisition sees the Company expeditiously achieve its goal of $100M turnover on an annualised basis, marking an increase of in excess of one thousand percent since the refresh of the Tesserent board in January 2020.

iQ3 Acquisition

iQ3 is a Secure Cloud Services firm headquartered in Sydney with facilities in Melbourne and Brisbane, and a sales office in Singapore. The firm’s services and solution offering materially complements Tesserent’s Cyber 360 strategy and represents a significant step forward in the Company’s ability to provide a full end-to-end cyber service.

Geoff Lord, TNT’s Chairman, commented; “the addition of Secure Cloud Services to our Solution portfolio is a strategic piece to our Cyber 360 offering that takes us one step closer to executing our strategic go-to-market vision”.

iQ3 provides services to Internationally established brands in Australia and Singapore, with particularly strong ties to NSW State and Local governments.  The firm has been delivering secure cloud infrastructure and related services to a long list of government agencies including 25 NSW Government departments, both directly out of GovDC and the NSW Government’s official procurement program, ‘buy.nsw’ since 2010.

The firm has an excellent operating record, with FY20 turnover in excess of $25M, delivering $3M EBITDA (subject to audit) and is immediately earnings, cash flow and EPS accretive to the TNT Group. Strong revenue and earnings are expected to continue into FY21. Importantly, more than 70% of iQ3’s revenue comes from multiple recurring multi-year annuity-based contracts. The TNT Group now has in excess of $30M annual recurring revenue from multiple locked-in multi-year contracts.

The consideration for the acquisition of iQ3 is a mix of cash and TNT shares, being $8.6M in cash and 34.6M shares issued at $0.2496 per share. The cash component is fully funded from existing cash reserves being $4.3M on completion and four deferred quarterly payments of $1.07M over a 12-month period.

Mr. Lord added; “We’re extremely pleased to welcome iQ3 into the Group, Craig Humphreys, iQ3’s Managing Director, has proven to be a talented operator. It’s also particularly pleasing to have achieved our $100M turnover run rate well before December which now gives us a solid base for material future growth”.

Synergy Benefits and Opportunities

By introducing iQ3 into the Group, there are considerable Cyber 360 cross-sell and up-sell opportunities at a customer, geographic and solution level. Tesserent envisages significant sales opportunities for iQ3 Secure Cloud Services to existing TNT Group customers, whilst selling the Group’s core services to iQ3 customers in Australia and Singapore.

There are also notable benefits associated with iQ3’s ISO-certified Network Operations Centre (NOC) and TNT’s existing ISO-certified Security Operations Centre (SOC) in relation to the delivery of associated Cloud, Connectivity and new Managed Security Services capabilities.

In addition, the Company sees an immediate opportunity to leverage State and Federal Government relationships and capabilities within the Group, particularly North, Seer, Ludus and iQ3.

Mr Humphreys commented; “Joining Tesserent is a natural strategic evolution for iQ3. The delivery of cloud services is becoming more and more security-centric and we now have the ability to significantly grow the business by providing our clients with that end-to-end secure cloud and cybersecurity solution they’re looking for”.

Julian Challingsworth, TNT’s CEO, commented; “The addition of Secure Cloud Services into our Cyber 360 strategy creates substantial opportunities, particularly as organisations transition to mobile and remote workforces as a result of COVID-19. We have already been providing tactical advice to our clients in this area, so enabling these services is a natural next-step for Tesserent.”

Mr Challingsworth added; “The models deployed by Cloud and Data Management firms like Megaport who are realising multi-billion dollar market caps through the deployment of smart technology with comparative annual recurring revenue to TNT are very interesting to us”.

The Company looks forward to keeping the market updated on the progress of further acquisitions in the near future.

ABOUT TESSERENT

Tesserent provides full service, enterprise-grade Cyber Security and networking solutions targeted at midmarket, enterprise and government customers across Australia. The Company’s Cyber 360 strategy delivers integrated solutions covering identification, protection and 24/7 monitoring against Cyber Security threats. With in excess of 180 security engineers, Tesserent has the capability to support organisations defend their digital assets against increasing risks and cyber-attacks.

Tesserent has been transformed via the acquisition of several high-quality Cyber Security businesses including Pure Security, Rivium, North Security, Seer Security, Airloom and Ludus Security, making it Australia’s largest listed dedicated Cyber Security firm.

Learn more at www.tesserent.com.

--- click on link above for the full announcement ---

[I hold TNT shares.]

31-Aug-2020:  After Market Close:  Preliminary Final Report

• Revenue from ordinary activities: $20,579,789 (Up 291%).
• Loss after tax from ordinary activities attributable to members: ($7,854,426) (Down 80%).
• Net loss attributable to members: ($7,854,426) (Down 80%).
• Dividends paid and proposed: No dividend has been proposed to be paid or is payable for the year ended 30 June 2020, nor for the comparative period.
• Net tangible assets per share 2020: $0.01/share (2019: $0.01/share) (no change)

--- click on the link above for more ---

I don't actually hold TNT shares - although I wish I did - I wouldn't be buying them up here though.  I do hold MAQ shares, which is my preferred ASX-listed cybersecurity exposure.  They've also has a good year, except MAQ actually are already consistently profitable.  Again, I wouldn't be buying MAQ up at current levels either.  TNT and MAQ are both on my Strawman.com scorecard.  I reckon TNT is probably the best performer on my scorecard, or would be close to it.