Bentley Systems executives talk to press during the company鈥檚 annual Year in Infrastructure conference. Pictured far right is CEO Nicholas Cumins. (Image: Mitchell Keller)

The construction software and technology company reported US$1.4 billion in total revenue for 2024, a 10.1% increase over 2023, with subscription revenue rising 13.2% to 90% of the company鈥檚 total revenue. Operating income margin improved to 22.3% from 18.8%.

鈥淲e had a strong finish to 2024,鈥� said CEO Nicholas Cumins. 鈥淭he global demand environment remains robust across most sectors and geographies, and our users continue to be optimistic about end market conditions.

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鈥淥ur 2025 outlook is consistent with our longer-term framework of low-double-digit ARR [annually recurring revenue] growth, 100-basis-points of margin expansion and strong cash flow generation.鈥�

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Bentley鈥檚 Chinese revenue declining, not expected to recover in 2025

Not all regions were on the rise for Bentley.

Chairman of the board of directors Greg Bentley said ARR declined 鈥渟ubstantially and structurally鈥� in China in recent years, with limited expectations for a turnaround.

Frequently throughout the conference call, Bentley officials referenced an annual revenue growth rate 鈥渆xcluding China鈥� of 12.5% year over year. The persistent note about the region鈥檚 revenue struggles compared to successes elsewhere illustrated how little faith the firm has in China in the near future.

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Cumins noted restrictions on using US software by China-owned enterprises has weakened the climate for external tech firms, and he said a turnaround in 2025 is not expected.

Greg Bentley noted, 鈥淚t鈥檚 at the level where the state-owned enterprises, the CEOs have to personally vouch for any use鈥� of American software. They have to attest that there isn鈥檛 a domestic alternative. It鈥檚 never been that bad before, and in that environment, we can鈥檛 hang on.鈥�

鈥淲e anticipate a decline of annual revenue in China this year, [which] now represents less than 2.5% of our total annual recuring revenue,鈥� Cumins said.

Greg Bentley added, 鈥淚 have to say how disappointing China is qualitatively. This is the first year 鈥� 2025 鈥� in which we do not have an internal plant to grow or even maintain our level of business in China.

鈥淥ur plan for this year is鈥� to continue to lose business in China.鈥�

Subscriptions still driving Bentley鈥檚 growth

Google鈥檚 vice president and general manager of geospatial applications Yael Maguire, left, discusses a partnership with Bentley Systems alongside Bentley鈥檚 chief technology officer Julian Moette. (Image: Mitchell Keller)

Bentley鈥檚 software subscription model remains the backbone of the company, making up a higher percentage of revenue last year compared to 2023.

鈥淚t鈥檚 notable that constant currency subscription revenues, which we thus regard as our key revenue metric, have grown to constitute 90% of our total having compounded at an annual growth rate of 16.3%, hence to double subscription revenues over the five years from 2020,鈥� Greg Bentley said.

In 2023, subscription revenues represented about 88% of overall revenue.

The subscription growth could have been even greater, too, if not for some companies choosing licenses over subs.

鈥淔or the 12th straight quarter, growth from new logos in the quarter would鈥檝e been even higher if not for an unprecedented large proportion of [small- and medium-sized business] prospects having, instead, chosen perpetual licenses over subscriptions in the quarter.

A look at regions: EMEA has strong quarter for Bentley, US infrastructure to remain robust

Bentley Systems CEO Nicholas Cumins announces new AI initiatives for the company at the annual Year In Infrastructure event. (Image: Mitchell Keller)

Including full-year figures, the company also shared fourth quarter (Q4 results).

Cumins said Bentley saw positive Q4 action in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA). He said. 鈥淓MEA had a standout quarter with strength across most of Europe, as well as the Middle East.鈥�

In response to an investor question about geopolitical unease, Cumins said he sees strong alignment among country officials, regardless of party, on infrastructure investment.

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鈥淚t is a bipartisan topic,鈥� said Cumins, noting political volatility in France and Germany has little to diminish the need for civil, utility and infrastructure builds. 鈥淭here is strong alignment that infrastructure investments are needed now.鈥�

In the UK, Cumins said he expects infrastructure investment to be the same, 鈥渋f not higher.鈥�

While perhaps not quite as dramatic as EMEA鈥檚 quarter (Bentley does not share regional figures, just commentary), Cumins noted North and Latin America growth maintains consistent strength. He anticipates another big year in artificial intelligence (AI), data centre and infrastructure spending in the US.

鈥淒espite uncertainties about federal spending in the US under the new administration, the broader infrastructure engineering community expects investments in infrastructure to continue,鈥� Cumins said, acknowledging, however, that project types may change. 鈥淔unding is likely to shift to more traditional power sources from alternatives and to more road work instead of high speed rail.

鈥淚t has also been announced that this administration will be investing significantly in AI, which means increasing data centre and power transmission buildouts.

鈥淲e also expect permitting reform to be a top priority for this administration and congress, which will accelerate new power transmission corridors as well as new mine exploration, benefiting our power nine systems and sequence businesses.鈥�

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