Richie Bros. Auctioneers has announced the conclusion of its 2006 auction calendar with a preliminary estimate of $2.72 billion in gross auction sales for the year, a 30 percent increase compared to last year’s result. The company planned to release its audited financial statements for the year on Feb. 22, 2007.
In 2006, Richie Bros. conducted 177 unreserved industrial auctions in 13 countries throughout North America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia and Australia. The company also held 141 unreserved agricultural auctions and one unreserved real estate auction during the year. A record of more than 241,000 bidders registered for Richie Bros.’ unreserved industrial auctions in 2006, of which approximately 74,000 were successful buyers. In 2005, the company recorded more than 213,000 bidder registrations, of which more than 62,000 were buyers.
During the past year, Richie Bros. worked with a record number of truck and equipment sellers, handling more than 32,000 consignments, which totaled more than 240,000 lots sold in the year. In 2005, Richie Bros. handled more than 27,000 consignments and more than 203,000 lots.
The average Richie Bros. industrial auction for 2006 featured more than 1,350 lots consigned by approximately 180 consignors, and attracted more than 1,360 bidders. The average gross auction sales per industrial auction for the year was more than $14 million.
The company’s rbauctionBid-Live internet bidding service also set records in 2006. The service allows qualified bidders to participate over the internet in live Richie Bros. unreserved auctions around the world. More than 9,660 customers from 76 countries purchased more than $446 million worth of trucks, equipment, and real estate using rbauctionBid-Live. This is an increase of more than 57 percent over last year’s online gross auction sales.
More than 57,000 customers from 150 countries have now registered and received approval to use rbauctionBid-Live to date. Internet bidders represented on average approximately 24 percent of the total registered bidders at Richie Bros. industrial auctions in 2006, and they were the buyer or runner up bidder on 24 percent of the lots offered online at these auctions.
A number of Richie Bros. permanent auction sites achieved gross auction sales records in 2006, including Orlando, Fla., which held the largest auction held by the company in more than 40 years of business. On Feb. 21 to 25, 2006, the Orlando auction generated gross auction sales of more than $113 million.
Richie Bros. also held a Canadian record-breaking auction this year.
Internationally, there were a number of auction sites that generated their own record-breaking sales in 2006, including: Sagunto, Spain; Livorno, Italy; Melbourne, Australia; and Toluca, Mexico.
In the United States, gross auction sales records were broken at the company’s permanent auction sites in Orlando, Fla.; Minneapolis, Minn.; North East, Md.; Atlanta, Ga.; Sacramento, Calif.; Phoenix, Ariz.; Los Angeles, Calif.; and Houston, Texas.
And in Canada, gross auction sales records were broken at the company’s permanent auction sites in: Edmonton, AB; Montreal, QC; Prince George, BC; and Vancouver, BC.
“It truly was a remarkable year for our company,” said Peter Blake, chief executive officer of Richie Bros. “We helped a record number of buyers and sellers to access the global market using our unreserved auctions. Our gross auction sales performance was a clear indication that our auctions continue to provide real value for our customers.”
Blake added, “Tight equipment markets in 2006 made it a challenging year for us to grow, yet our record-breaking gross auction sales performance demonstrated that we have been successful with our strategies for penetrating deeper into existing markets and expanding into new markets. Our focus on new geographies and market sectors, together without emphasis on improving the systems that support our growth, played out well in 2006.”
The Richie Bros. 2007 auction calendar begins in Jackson, Miss., at the end of January. There are more than 20 unreserved industrial auctions and more than 50 unreserved agricultural auctions already listed on the 2007 auction calendar. Equipment listings and information about upcoming auctions are available on the company’s Web site www.rbauction.com.
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