Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers announced net earnings for the year ended December 31, 2012 of $79.5 million and adjusted net earnings of $82.6 million. This compares to net earnings of $76.6 million and adjusted net earnings of $73.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2011, representing a 12% increase in adjusted net earnings.

Excluding the acquisition and operational costs related to AssetNation, the growth in the Company's adjusted net earnings would have been 17% in 2012. The Company's auction revenues for the year ended December 31, 2012 grew 11% to $438.0 million compared to $396.1 million for the same period in 2011.

Gross Auction Proceeds and Auction Revenues

For the year ended December 31, 2012, gross auction proceeds were a record $3.9 billion, 5% higher than in 2011. The Company's auction revenue rate (auction revenues as a percentage of gross auction proceeds) was 11.21% during the year ended December 31, 2012 compared to 10.66% in 2011.

Summary Comments

"2012 was another year of volatility in the used equipment market. During the year, we saw competition remain strong, used equipment prices rise then flatten, and ultimately the supply and demand for used equipment became more balanced ," said Peter Blake , Ritchie Bros. CEO. "Our at-risk business experienced wide variations in performance but, for the year, it performed within our expectations. We reached some great milestones during the year, beyond achieving the highest ever gross auction proceeds of $3.9 billion, which included significant gains in our online presence with over 5 million unique visitors to our website, $1.3 billion in sales to internet bidders at our auctions and over $1 billion of volume at our Canada auctions. These all contributed to another growth year in gross auction proceeds. We felt 2012, even with adjusted net earnings growth of 17% excluding costs associated with AssetNation, was not an optimal year. If we had executed we would have had an even strong year. This has focused us on executing specific strategies in 2013.

Mr. Blake continued: "Looking forward to 2013, we remain committed to our strategic pillars GROW-ADD-PERFORM which will help us focus on executing our 2013 plan. We believe the used equipment marketplace has evolved into a more familiar environment with improving prospects for growth over the long term. We have made significant strategic investments in our infrastructure, people and processes and now it is about execution to ensure we continue to be the trusted source for the world's builders to easily and confidently exchange equipment."

EquipmentOne

As previously announced on January 22, 2013, the Company launched a new online equipment marketplace called Richie Bros . EquipmentOne. Complementary to the Company's flagship unreserved auction business, Ritchie Bros. EquipmentOne (www.EquipmentOne.com) is a secure online marketplace for equipment and materials. Buyers and sellers can use Ritchie Bros. EquipmentOne to negotiate, complete and settle their transactions in a safe and transparent environment. Core marketplace functionality has now been released and enhancements are being made on an ongoing basis; the next major release and full commercial launch is scheduled for the second quarter of
2013.