Ritchie Bros. Final Auctions of 2012 and Set New Records | Daily Construction News

Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers Inc., sold approximately $3.9 billion of equipment at 328 unreserved auctions around the world in 2012. This represents a 5% increase in gross auction proceeds over 2011 and the highest gross auction proceeds in company history. The company achieved gross auction proceeds of $1 billion in the fourth quarter and sold a record $1.3 billion of equipment, trucks and other assets to online bidders in 2012--an 18% increase over 2011.

The company conducted its final unreserved auctions on Dec. 20 in Los Angeles and St. Louis and plans to release its full audited annual financial statements and management's discussion and analysis for 2012 on Feb. 26, 2013. All dollar amounts in this release are stated in U.S. dollars, unless otherwise indicated.

Peter Blake, Ritchie Bros. CEO, commented: "Against the backdrop of market turbulence through the year, we are pleased with our 2012 results as we emerged well positioned to continue the growth of our core unreserved auction business and we are ready to begin a new path that will introduce a new customer base to our brand. In 2012, we saw the intense competition for quality low hour used equipment recently transition to a less competitive and more familiar environment for our business to grow over the long term. These changes in the evolving equipment market contributed to our performance in the year where we saw significant gains in our online presence and bidder portal, with over 5 million unique visitors to our 21 language website and $1.3 billion in annual online equipment sales. Our auctions in Canada recorded over $1 billion in gross auction proceeds for the year, an amazing feat from our network of 10 permanent auction sites within Canada."

"We are realizing benefits, from prior investments in capital and strategic initiatives, ranging from our continuing improvements in operating leverage to the expansion of our global auction site network with our new Donington Park, UK yard and the opening of replacement sites in Chehalis, WA (replacing Olympia, WA) and Raleigh-Durham, N.C. (replacing Statesville, NC)." added Mr. Blake. "2013 is shaping up to be a great year of milestones, with the impending launch of our new online, non-auction marketplace as a result of our AssetNation acquisition. We also will be conducting our first unreserved auction in Beijing, China, as well as our upcoming six-day auction in Orlando, Florida and Grand Opening auction in Geelong, Australia - all demonstrating the breadth in our mission statement to deliver compelling business solutions that enable the world's builders to easily and confidently exchange equipment."

Industrial auction results

	Year ended Dec. 31, 2012	Year ended Dec. 31, 2011
Number of industrial auctions	221	228
Bidder registrations	389,500	385,000
Buyers	99,250	95,550
Consignments	42,100	41,300
Lots	287,000	286,500

Average industrial auction

	Year ended Dec. 31, 2012	Year ended Dec. 31, 2011
Gross auction proceeds	$16.5 million	$15.5 million
Registered bidders	1,760	1,690
Consignors	190	181
Lots	1,300	1,180

Upcoming auctions
There are currently 77 unreserved auctions on the 2013 Ritchie Bros. auction calendar at www.rbauction.com, which commences with a two-day auction in Houston on Feb. 6 and 7, to be followed by auctions in Las Vegas(Feb. 8), Donington Park, UK (February 12), Phoenix (Feb. 12 & 13), Tipton, Calif. (Feb. 15) and a six day auction in Orlando on Feb. 18 - 23. 2013.