Auction firm Ritchie records record sales of equipment

Ritchie Bros Auctioneers sold some US$3.8 billion of equipment at 356 unreserved auctions around the world in 2013. This is a 3% decrease in gross auction proceeds (GAP) compared to the record set in 2012. During the fourth quarter of 2013, the firm achieved gross auction proceeds of $1.1 billion, a record for the fourth quarter and an increase of 10% compared to the same quarter of 2012. "We achieved some notable milestones during 2013," said Peter Blake, CEO of Ritchie Bros. "In Canada, our most establi
Finance & Funding / December 20, 2013
318 Ritchie Bros Auctioneers sold some US$3.8 billion of equipment at 356 unreserved auctions around the world in 2013. This is a 3% decrease in gross auction proceeds (GAP) compared to the record set in 2012. During the fourth quarter of 2013, the firm achieved gross auction proceeds of $1.1 billion, a record for the fourth quarter and an increase of 10% compared to the same quarter of 2012.

"We achieved some notable milestones during 2013," said Peter Blake, CEO of Ritchie Bros. "In Canada, our most established market, we continued to grow and again surpassed gross auction proceeds of over $1 billion. We also held our first auctions in both China and Finland, and reached a new record for online bidders and buyers. In fact, our online bidders purchased more than $1.4 billion of equipment in 2013, or approximately 37% of our total sales.”

"Having made important investments in our auction platform over the last several years, our worldwide network of 44 sites is now extremely well equipped to handle expanding auction volumes. Our focus going forward is on driving growth in gross auction proceeds to deliver the earnings leverage that exists in our model."
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