Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers sold approximately $3.7 billion of equipment at 339 unreserved auctions around the world in 2011. This represents a 12% increase in gross auction proceeds over 2010 and the highest gross auction proceeds in Company history.
The Company achieved gross auction proceeds of more than $1 billion in the fourth quarter alone, the largest fourth quarter in Company history. Ritchie Bros. attracted record online bidder registrations and sold over $1.1 billion of equipment, trucks and other assets to online bidders in 2011, a 29% increase over 2010 and the highest amount ever sold online by the Company in one year.
Peter Blake, Ritchie Bros. CEO, commented: "2011 was a year of change for Ritchie Bros., with an updated strategic plan and new mission statement guiding our course. We executed very well and accomplished many significant milestones in 2011, starting with our first ever $2 billion first half in terms of gross auction proceeds. We also achieved significant online milestones, including more than $5 billion in lifetime online equipment sales and over $1.1 billion in annual online equipment sales. The year concluded with a company record of more than $1 billion in fourth quarter gross auction proceeds, which rounded off a year of significant achievements in a highly competitive market."
"We started the year with some lofty strategic goals and I'm very pleased with our accomplishments in our ongoing efforts to instill confidence and make it easy for our customers to buy and sell equipment," added Mr. Blake. "We successfully introduced a range of value-added services on July 1st and have received lots of positive feedback from our customers. We now provide detailed equipment information in 21 languages on our website, so our customers feel even more confident when they bid. They have also embraced our new financing, insurance and powertrain service warranty programs. We move into 2012 with a focus on further extending the appeal of our auctions to existing customers and attracting new ones as we grow our business around the world. Although the world is an uncertain place right now, we believe we are delivering compelling value to equipment owners around the world and are confident that our business will continue to grow in 2012."