Member Info for squadraazzura

Data protection laws mean companies are obliged to protect privacy thus must spend in cyber security. If not they could lose twice: Fines from legislators and compensation from those who had their private data exposed.

Sorry, one correction: Schneider electric from France took over AVEVA and OpenText from Canada, Microfocus. So we have in total 5 software companies already taken over (Sophos, Avast, Blue Prism, Microfocus and Aveva).

Stevie - Agree because if Jacob was, say, a software specialist I won't bother. But a specialist in M & A is another story to follow. He must be the man capable of getting out the best value for DT and its shareholders.

Lejjb: STAN and DTY already to be taken over after just a few days in the new year. Many UK companies will be swallowed as they are very cheap. When one compares Schneider taking over Microfocus - with its huge debt pile and huge losses for the last few years, what can I say about DT and its growth prospects in a very strategic sector ?

According to Peel Hunt, Private Equities have $300 billion to spend in 2023 - just in Europe...
https://www.investmentweek.co.uk/news/4062173/european-private-equity-eur270bn-capital-spent

After only 3 days in the new year, 2 takeover bids were already made: Dignity and Standard Chartered Bank. Who is next ? I think UK companies are the cheapest.

It was not an error. The error was made by those who did not read properly what was written on their website. It was a closed period 3rd to mid January. Q2 will be updated between 9th and 20th of January according to Luk Janssens, the head of Investor relations who replied to me (2 to 3 weeks after December 31st 2022).

Is this why the recruited recently Patrick Jacob ? M & A ... who knows ...
"Patrick Jacob is a director of Anthem Corporate Finance Limited, an independent, privately-owned financial services firm that provides financial advisory, M&A and strategic advisory services to companies worldwide which he co-founded in 2002."

This is what DT said when TO Bid was terminated:
"RPO, representing contracted revenue backlog of over $1 billion, continues to expand as Darktrace enters and expands multi-year contracts with new and existing customers, providing significant revenue visibility."
This is what was written regarding Thoma Bravo bid:
"M&A and strategic advisory services to companies worldwide which he co-founded in 2002.". Interesting point. We are close to the 6 months M & A requirement.
"Under City takeover rules, Thoma Bravo cannot return with an offer within six months, except for if certain conditions are met, such as a rival bidder entering the fray, or an agreement being reached directly with the Darktrace board."
This is why we may see a bidding war in the next few weeks/months.

IMO there will be a bidding war for DT early this year. No UK firm using AI will be left alone: Sophos, Blue Prism, AVAST. DT is the only one left. Being one of the top leaders using AI in the cyber space won't be easy not be attract attention. In addition UK shares are so far the cheapest when compared to other markets and the strong dollar.

Volumes are abnormally high this morning. Loading for next week ?

Onsolidground: The cost of living is irrelevant for an institution or a strategic company when it comes to protect data or securing energy generation and communication infrastructures for example. With a malware, power stations and data centers can be made idle nowadays. So it shows that this cyber industry is almost a matter of life and death. Imagine power stations and national grids hacked and broken down when it is freezing ? Imagine a telecom network paralyzed etc. So this is a vital protection of strategic national assets of every country.

How many stocks had gains in 2022 ? Very few.
Regarding Q2, I received an email from Luk Janssens, Head of Investor Relations stating: "We report 4 trading updates a year. We publish trading updates usually 2 - 3 weeks after period ends; so 2 - 3 weeks after 31 December 2022 is sort of 9 - 21 January 2023 as a good guestimate of when they can come". So Q2 could come anytime between 9th and 21st of January.

"Darktrace explicitly mentioned that its figures were adversely impacted by a the higher USD." - For information, in September when the Sterling was its weakest point, £1 = $1.08. Since then there was a strong recovery to $1.21's = 12% improvement.

Lejjb: DT is within a very defensive sector where spending is a must. Without protection, institutions and (strategic or not) companies are exposed to all sort of ransomware and various disruptions ending losing millions . As we move forward, cyber-attacks are increasing exponentially, costing billions worldwide and becoming a "normal business" to steal money and even geopolitical weapons to destroy country infrastructures. This particular sector will prevail at the end as cybersecurity is becoming a must have protection tool.

I would add that previously announced Q1 was the seasonally weaker quarter. As they have already launched the popular "Prevent" which is massively adopted, I expect stellar update and possibly an upgrade of all future numbers .

True. They did not give a specific date - They gave a time interval 3 to mid Jan. Then how can they publish a Trading Update to 31st December while everybody is on holidays for almost 2 weeks ? This is normal and already seen for many stocks as these are NOT the the final results.

Yes but in DT Website it is written "Please note that the dates provided are indicative and subject to change - please check regularly for updates."

Possible announcement or are the results to be released when the US opens ?

Yes the significant positive wider impact of "Prevent" on Sales will appear next year but the impact has already started as Prevent was already offered since September. So the next results will anyhow take into account additional income from the adoption of "Prevent".