Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers sold approximately $3.8 billion of equipment at 356 unreserved auctions around the world in 2013. This represents a 3% decrease in gross auction proceeds (GAP) compared to the record GAP the Company generated last year. During the fourth quarter of 2013, the Company 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. We're pleased that our customers are finding convenience through our online bidding option, and comfort in the ability to test and inspect the equipment being sold in our yards before each auction. More than 43,000 consigners trusted us to sell their equipment at our industrial auctions during the year, and over 425,000 potential buyers registered to bid on items."

Mr. Blake continued, "This was an important year for our business. We had a focused strategy to grow our sales force and improve the performance of our underwritten (or 'at risk') business. On both counts, we have made great progress. During 2013 we grew our sales force to the largest it's ever been, and we continued to invest in new technology tools for our sales team that will provide better insight into our customer base, enhance our service levels and improve sales productivity. As well, the much improved performance of our underwritten business allowed us to achieve record quarterly auction revenue rates during 2013. We also successfully launched EquipmentOne.com, a new online non-auction service offering that has allowed us to reach new customers and broaden the solutions we offer equipment owners."
"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."

Ritchie Bros. Financial Services Finances Over CA$100 million in 2013

Ritchie Bros. Financial Services (RBFS) provided over CA$100 million of financing to equipment buyers during 2013, a record for the business.  This represents a 122% increase in activity over the prior year and continued growth since its inception in July 2011. RBFS works with select lending partners to find financing solutions for customers purchasing equipment, including loans and lease-to-own programs.  RBFS does not utilize Company capital in its financing activities.

Launch of Ritchie Bros. EquipmentOne

Ritchie Bros. commercially launched Ritchie Bros. EquipmentOne on April 8, 2013. Complementary to the Company's flagship unreserved auction business, Ritchie Bros. EquipmentOne (www.EquipmentOne.com) is a safe and secure online marketplace for the private sale of equipment and materials where buyers and sellers can negotiate, complete and settle their transactions. This new solution provides equipment owners with the ability to control the selling price and the process during the sale of their items, and allows the Company to reach new customers whose needs differ from those attracted to Ritchie Bros.' auction services.