Behind Bridge Point's blockbuster $52m year

Brisbane-headquartered systems integrator Bridge Point boosted revenue by almost $12 million in the 2014 financial year before being acquired by Telstra in October.

According to its annual report, only recently lodged with ASIC, Bridge Point posted sales revenue of $51.9 million for the year ending 30 June 2014, up almost 30 percent from $40 million in 2013.

Net profit hit $2.45 million – a staggering 70-fold improvement from the previous year's figure of $35,227.

Telstra acquired the security and network provider in a blockbuster deal three months ago to add to its Network Applications and Services division. That unit of the telco itself grew 28 percent in the 2014 financial year, to hit $1.9 billion in revenue.

"Telstra has long worked with Bridge Point as a partner in the Queensland market, and our teams are well known to each other. The decision to acquire was in line with our growth strategy for developing professional services capability, and Bridge Point is strong in network and security services – two key growth pillars of Telstra's," said a Telstra spokesperson.

The spokesperson also said that Bridge Point was a boost for the NAS division's presence in Queensland, to complement last January's acquisition of O2 Networks that added capabilities in Victoria and New South Wales. Telstra also acquired NSC in August 2013.

All 75 of Bridge Point's staff – spread across Brisbane and North Sydney – have stayed on after the Telstra acquisition, including former owner Rob Siganto.

"Rob plays a key role in the integration team, and is an ambassador in ensuring key customer relations are transitioned appropriately," said the spokesperson.

Bridge Point is still operating as a separate company, while an integration plan is nutted out.

"This usually lasts for about six months, after which the integration process will take effect," said the spokesperson, adding that this ensures "the best of the acquired business’ operating model, systems and processes" are brought into Telstra.

Bridge Point is a reseller for Cisco, NetApp, CommVault, Riverbed, Check Point, Bluecoat, F5 and Palo Alto Networks.