I think this contract might explain why they didn't anticipate...

I think this contract might explain why they didn't anticipate the end of the nbn New Developments contract in November 2016 (worth $20m per annum and announced in September 2016) to materially impact FY17 revenue. They have other contracts to more than make up for the loss of that revenue, including a new nbn DCMA contract (worth around $50m per annum and announced today).

This contract won't have any impact on FY17H1 and only partial impact on FY17H2. So while valuable for FY18, the impact on FY17 may be limited. The market can be very short term and forget about this contract in a few weeks, providing better buy in opportunities. I think we're in a period of consolidation until the market is comfortable that the reported earnings are still growing enough to justify a higher share price.

I don't think the company could advise of this contract until it was won, so I wouldn't necessarily think untoward of the directors for buying in a month ago.

I agree that the margins may surprise on the upside, given relatively fixed overheads.

For a long term shareholder, today's announcement is very good news. Given the lead time before we see the impact on earnings, less so for a short term shareholder.