EXTON, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Bentley Systems, Incorporated, the leading company dedicated to providing comprehensive software solutions for sustaining infrastructure, today announced, during its first Annual Corporate Update conference call, the company’s performance highlights for 2010 and a number of important new initiatives, including an innovative change in licensing practices that sustains the value of users’ software investments, easy access to no-cost software for interoperability, and the acquisition of leading analysis software for offshore structures. These and other notable company achievements are featured in Bentley’s 2010 Annual Report available online at www.bentley.com/annualreport.

Bentley’s 2010 GAAP revenues were $476 million, for a year-over-year growth rate of 6 percent. Commenting on the company’s performance, CEO Greg Bentley said, “I am pleased to report that in 2010, the good work of our colleagues, in combination with that of our user community, enabled Bentley to achieve renewed organic growth, to gain market share, and to emerge stronger than ever. At constant FX rates, our revenues have essentially returned back to our 2008 peak level. While our subscription business model has been the backbone of Bentley’s resilience, brands like STAAD, ProSteel, AutoPIPE, and Bentley Map, and sectors like structural, bridge, and electrical engineering have outpaced the recession by growing substantially throughout. Particularly encouraging was our strong growth in emerging markets, and especially in Asia, where the unprecedented demand for new and intelligent infrastructure has never abated.”

In 2010, Bentley continued its long-standing commitment to reinvesting 20 percent of all software revenues in research and development. Since 2001, Bentley has invested more than $1 billion in R&D and acquisitions.

In December 2010, Bentley achieved its “initial public rating” from Moody’s and Standard and Poor’s. In a press release, Moody’s had this to say about Bentley’s performance, “The company’s well established customer base and large proportion of recurring revenues enabled the company to get through the downturn with a relatively moderate 10 percent revenue decline notwithstanding what was likely a far greater decline in the company’s end markets. Despite the downturn, Bentley was able to maintain EBITDA and free cash flow levels.” The company ended 2010 with no net debt.

In February 2011, Bentley entered into a new $310 million bank credit facility, composed of a revolving line and a fixed term loan that it used to buy back $200 million of company stock. As a result, the Bentley family and Bentley Systems colleagues together now own fully eighty-five percent of the company’s equity. The company’s post-transactions net debt to EBITDA leverage ratio is less than 2.25, and post-transactions liquidity available is well above $100 million.

Owner-operators comprise the slight majority of Bentley’s enterprise accounts and, since 2005, the company has increased its proportion of revenue from owner-operators from 49.5 percent to 54 percent. This has been the result of the company’s strategy to create value directly, and to decrease its vulnerability to the cyclicality of capital project starts.

This motivated Bentley’s new “AssetWise” operations information modeling initiative a year ago, anchored by two major acquisitions. Last month, Bentley released eB Insight, the foundation of its AssetWise platform for asset lifecycle information management.

A primary operational highlight of 2010 was the return on Bentley’s investment in emerging markets, with Asia (where 25 percent of Bentley colleagues are located) reaching 16 percent of global revenues. Despite hundreds of colleagues working there, Bentley Systems has long been a net exporter to India, with 2010 annual revenue growth of 16 percent to support India’s infrastructure development priorities. Bentley’s significant 2010 breakthrough was to achieve net exports to Greater China, where its revenues have more than doubled in the last three years.

Underscoring the company’s ongoing commitment to growth through innovation and strategic acquisitions, Bentley today announced the following in separate press releases:

• Portfolio Balancing, an industry milestone in “sustainable licensing” practice that empowers new purchasers of Bentley product licenses, along with existing Bentley SELECT subscribers, to annually exchange underutilized Bentley software for software of equal value that meets existing or upcoming needs;
• the launch of its iWare Apps site at www.bentley.com/iware providing fast and easy access to Bentley’s no-cost iWare Apps for enhanced interoperability;
• the acquisition of SACS, the market leading offshore structure analysis software supporting the design, fabrication, installation, operations, and maintenance of oil platforms and wind farms.

To view a copy of Bentley’s 2010 Annual Report online, visit www.bentley.com/annualreport.

About Bentley Systems, Incorporated

Bentley is the global leader dedicated to providing architects, engineers, geospatial professionals, constructors, and owner-operators with comprehensive software solutions for sustaining infrastructure. Bentley’s mission is to empower its users to leverage information modeling through integrated projects for high-performing intelligent infrastructure. Its solutions encompass the MicroStation platform for infrastructure design and modeling, the ProjectWise platform for infrastructure project team collaboration and work sharing, and the AssetWise platform for infrastructure asset operations – all supporting a broad portfolio of interoperable applications and complemented by worldwide professional services. Founded in 1984, Bentley has grown to nearly 3,000 colleagues in more than 45 countries and $500 million in annual revenues. Since 2001, the company has invested more than $1 billion in research, development, and acquisitions.

Additional information about Bentley is available at www.bentley.com and in Bentley’s annual report. For Bentley news as it happens, subscribe to an RSS feed of Bentley press releases and news alerts. To view a searchable collection of innovative infrastructure projects from the annual Be Inspired Awards, access Bentley’s Year in Infrastructure publications. To access a professional networking site that enables members of the infrastructure community to connect, communicate, and learn from each other, visit Be Communities.

To download the Bentley Infrastructure 500 Top Owners ranking, a unique global compendium of the top public- and private-sector owners of infrastructure based on the value of their cumulative infrastructure investments, visit www.bentley.com/500.

Bentley, the “B” Bentley logo, Be, MicroStation, ProjectWise, STAAD, ProSteel, AutoPIPE, Bentley Map, eB, and Bentley SELECT are either registered or unregistered trademarks or service marks of Bentley Systems, Incorporated or one of its direct or indirect wholly-owned subsidiaries. All other brands and product names are trademarks of their respective owners.

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